ByteDance, US discuss TikTok's future in the country

Chinese tech heavyweight ByteDance, the parent company of short-video app TikTok, said on Saturday that it is still in discussion with the US government regarding plans to keep the app operational in the country, reiterating that no agreement has been finalized yet.

The company said in a statement that there are still key matters to be resolved, adding that any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese laws.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will grant ByteDance an additional 75-day extension to either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or face a nationwide ban that is set to take effect on Saturday.

In April 2024, then-US President Joe Biden signed a law that gave ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok. Trump, who took office on Jan 20, signed an executive order to delay the TikTok ban by 75 days.

The extension follows China's announcement on Friday of a string of strong countermeasures, including imposing an additional 34-percent tariff on all products imported from the US and implementing export control measures on certain rare earth-related items in response to the US' decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese exports.