TikTok faces shutdown as commerce secretary pressures ByteDance over US control
The situation has now turned into a soap opera.
TikTok is once again the talk of the town and it seems that nobody knows what will happen to some 170 million Americans' favorite app. The possibility of TikTok shutting down in the US is not yet off the table, if ByteDance doesn't hand over control of the app's American operations to US investors.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear that if China does not approve the proposed deal, TikTok will be forced to stop operating in the United States.
The current proposal would create a new, US-based version of TikTok, run and majority-owned by American investors. While ByteDance could retain a small stake, the key point of contention is the algorithm – the software that determines what content users see. Lutnick stressed that the US must not only own the company's infrastructure but also control the algorithm itself.
This is not the first time Washington has demanded a TikTok divestiture, as you know by now. A law passed in 2024 required ByteDance to sell or shut down TikTok's US operations by January 19, 2025. President Trump has delayed that deadline three times, most recently granting an extension to September 17. But that flexibility has done little to move the deal forward.
Talks had made progress earlier this year, but they stalled after China signaled it would not approve the transaction – especially following Trump's announcement of new tariffs on Chinese imports. Yeah, it's not surprising this didn't have any effect.
The situation has also drawn legal challenges and political disagreement. Some Democratic lawmakers argue that Trump does not have the authority to keep extending the deadline. They also question whether the proposed deal would meet the legal requirements of the 2024 law. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to Apple, Google, and other tech firms that host TikTok, assuring them the Justice Department would not pursue legal action if they continued to support the app during the delay.
Meanwhile, another potential buyer has backed out of the deal, as we told you the other day. Blackstone has withdrawn from a group of investors aiming to take over TikTok's American operations, citing delays tied to US-China trade tensions.
I don't think a conclusion will be reached on September 17, the way things are going.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear that if China does not approve the proposed deal, TikTok will be forced to stop operating in the United States.
China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece. But basically, Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm. If that deal gets approved, by the Chinese, then that deal will happen. If they don't approve it, then TikTok is going to go dark, and those decisions are coming very soon.
– Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, July 2025
The current proposal would create a new, US-based version of TikTok, run and majority-owned by American investors. While ByteDance could retain a small stake, the key point of contention is the algorithm – the software that determines what content users see. Lutnick stressed that the US must not only own the company's infrastructure but also control the algorithm itself.
This is not the first time Washington has demanded a TikTok divestiture, as you know by now. A law passed in 2024 required ByteDance to sell or shut down TikTok's US operations by January 19, 2025. President Trump has delayed that deadline three times, most recently granting an extension to September 17. But that flexibility has done little to move the deal forward.
Talks had made progress earlier this year, but they stalled after China signaled it would not approve the transaction – especially following Trump's announcement of new tariffs on Chinese imports. Yeah, it's not surprising this didn't have any effect.
The situation has also drawn legal challenges and political disagreement. Some Democratic lawmakers argue that Trump does not have the authority to keep extending the deadline. They also question whether the proposed deal would meet the legal requirements of the 2024 law. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to Apple, Google, and other tech firms that host TikTok, assuring them the Justice Department would not pursue legal action if they continued to support the app during the delay.
I don't think a conclusion will be reached on September 17, the way things are going.
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