U.S. President Donald Trump recently noted, "If China cooperates with the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations (owned by China's ByteDance), it could lower tariffs on China," highlighting the renewed focus on the U.S.-China conflict surrounding the global short-form platform TikTok.
Initially, under the 'TikTok Ban Act' passed by the U.S. Congress last April, ByteDance was expected to exit if it did not sell TikTok U.S. operations within 270 days, but President Trump extended the deadline by 75 days earlier this year.
The analysis suggests that abruptly expelling TikTok, which has 150 million monthly active users in the U.S., could lead to social backlash and confusion, particularly among young users aged 10 to 20, making it difficult for the U.S. government to act unilaterally.
In addition, President Trump mentioned last year, "If TikTok disappears, only Facebook benefits," indicating that the expulsion of TikTok is not just a security issue, but also impacts platform competition within the U.S.
The conflict surrounding TikTok is largely unfolding along the two axes of 'security' and 'trade.' The U.S. government and Congress have defined the issue as a matter of national security based on suspicions that TikTok shares vast user data with the Chinese government. Trump's mention of potentially lowering tariffs on China if it cooperates with the sale of TikTok is interpreted as a strategy to pressure China by linking the TikTok matter with national security and trade, stating that "China will find tariff reductions more valuable than TikTok."
The U.S. obsession with TikTok is analyzed as reflecting strategic intentions to secure global public opinion leadership and data sovereignty, beyond simply controlling Chinese corporations. In particular, TikTok possesses core assets of next-generation platforms, such as AI recommendation algorithms, user big data, and video advertising technologies, leading to continuous attempts to draw this into U.S. Big Tech.
However, Chinese authorities officially rebutted, stating, "TikTok has complied with local regulations and has not undermined U.S. security," while internally, there are observations that they are actively blocking the sale due to concerns about leaks of core technologies like the TikTok algorithm.
The market estimates that TikTok's U.S. business could be valued at least $60 billion (about 87.996 trillion won) and up to $100 billion (about 146.66 trillion won). The news that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has recently become the richest person in China adds weight to this evaluation. In fact, Microsoft Corp. (MS), Oracle, and even emerging strong players like Perplexity in the AI search sector have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok. These corporations find the vast user base, video big data, and unique recommendation algorithms attractive, but the approval from the Chinese government and price negotiations have posed obstacles, leaving the transaction stagnant.
On the Chinese side, there is a prevailing sentiment of wanting to use TikTok as a bargaining chip until the end. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in an official briefing that "The U.S. should rationally decide and provide a fair and non-discriminatory environment for companies from various countries." According to reports from foreign media such as The Washington Post (WP), the Chinese government is also exploring options to delay TikTok's sale or reject the transaction altogether behind the scenes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang emphasized in a briefing on the 27th that "We have already expressed our position on the TikTok issue several times. China has consistently opposed tariff increases, and this is a clear stance."
Amid the U.S.-China disputes, the crucial turning point determining whether TikTok will be taken over by U.S. corporations or if its services in the U.S. will be completely banned is approaching, shaping the future of the global platform ecosystem.