After a brief blackout in January of 2025 and several deadline extensions in the months since then, TikTok is once again on the verge of going dark in the U.S. According to Reuters, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that TikTok's parent company, the China-based ByteDance, must sell its U.S. assets by September 17 to avoid shutdown of the massively popular social media app.
A 2024 law passed by Congress and signed by former president Joe Biden mandated the app's shutdown by January 19 of this year unless significant progress had been made toward a sale. ByteDance shut down TikTok just hours before midnight on January 18, but was back online less than 24 hours later and received a 90-day reprieve from President Donald Trump after his return to the White House.
After one failed deal and two additional deadline extensions, TikTok's situation remains tenuous. Few potential buyers have deep enough pockets to acquire ByteDance's U.S. assets, which are valued at around $50 billion, according to CNBC And any sale would also require the approval of the Chinese government, which has indicated its unwillingness to allow any transaction to move forward.
Some observers think TikTok will be an element of U.S. trade negotiations.
