China and the U.S. began a fresh round of trade talks in Madrid on Sunday, led by Vice Premier He Lifeng and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The meetings focused on de-escalating tariffs, which are currently paused at 30% for U.S. goods and 10% for Chinese exports until Nov. 10, and resolving the standoff over TikTok, which faces a Sept. 17 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned in the U.S.
UPDATE: As of this morning (Monday, Sep 15th), U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer said that the two countries have struck a framework agreement on transferring TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the deal was coming but declined to reveal the commercial terms, only saying, “It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon.”
Bessent added that although a framework agreement has been reached, President Trump will have to finalize the deal with President Xi Jinping this Friday. He then temporarily removed his nose from up Trump’s butt to say:
“President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him we shared it with our Chinese counterparts. Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today.”
President Trump’s third TikTok ban extension is supposed to end on Sep 17th, but with a deal “right around the corner” (again), I’d imagine that we’ll hear news of Trump extending the deadline once again to allow for his talks with President Jinping this Friday. And if that conversation doesn’t materialize into the actual sale of TikTok to a U.S. company, I guess the Chinese app will live to see another few months in the U.S. either way.
As you might be able to tell from my snarky commentary above, I’ll believe there’s a deal when I see it. Until then, it’s just theater.
