TikTok business

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has postponed the deadline for Chinese ByteDance (BD) to sell U.S. transactions of its popular short video-sharing service TikTok for another 15 days, The Wall Street Journal wrote with reference to court materials.

Last week BD went to the United States courts of appeals to challenge the Donald Trump administration's order to sell the assets.

Monica Crowley, spokesperson for the United States Department of the Treasury, said: "This decision gives all parties much more time to find a solution that meets the presidential decree". It should be noted that an order was issued by Donald Trump at the end of summer to sell the American business to TikTok on 12 November.

Two months ago, a BD deal was concluded with Oracle and Walmart (WLMT). The transaction involved the division of TikTok's business into a new company called TikTok Global. The terms of the transaction implied that Oracle and WLMT would own 20% of TikTok Global and 80% of BD. However, 40% of BD will be held by American investment funds (AIF) and shares in TikTok Global as well as Oracle and WLMT will be shared among investors in the Americas.

Trump pre-approved the transaction, but the further US government approval process has stalled.

Meanwhile, last week the United States Department of Commerce postponed the enforcement of measures that would have led to the blocking of TikTok in the US.

Pressure on Chinese social networks in the US has begun at the initiative of Donald Trump's administration and it is not yet clear what kind of policy Joe Biden, who had previously announced his victory in the presidential election, will pursue, WSJ writes. Many members of United States Congress from both parties have expressed concerns about possible data collection for American users in China. The outcome will have serious implications for relations between Washington and Beijing, as well as for the development of the global internet.