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A top US official has announced that China and the United States have reached an agreement to transfer TikTok to US-controlled ownership.

Some shit you should know before you read: Last year, Congress passed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” with bipartisan support, addressing widespread concerns about the potential national security risks posed by TikTok’s Chinese ownership. The law, later signed by President Biden, requires TikTok’sparent company, ByteDance, to either divest its US operations or face an outright ban, based on fears that the Chinese government could exploit the platform’s algorithm to manipulate information and access sensitive user data from millions of Americans. Since Trump returned to office, he has extended the deadline ban citing ongoing talks with China to reach a resolution on the matter.

What’s going on now: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that American and Chinese negotiators have reached a framework agreement for a deal that would shift TikTok’s US operations to American-controlled ownership, aligning with the legal requirements set by Congress. The announcement followed a round of high-level trade talks in Madrid, where Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and other senior officials. While Bessent declined to provide specifics on the “commercial terms,” he stressed that they had been fully agreed upon by the private parties involved, and described the outcome as one that respects US national security while allowing for a “fair investment environment” for China.

According to Bessent, the negotiations focused squarely on TikTok, but were also part of a broader dialogue on trade policy, tariffs, and technology restrictions. He noted that Chinese negotiators had made what he called “aggressive asks” during the talks, reportedly seeking concessions on tariffs and tech controls in exchange for agreeing to the TikTok divestiture. The US refused to compromise on these points, with Bessent stating firmly, “We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app.”

Bessent also criticized China’s decision to launch an anti-monopoly investigation into Nvidia, calling the timing “poor” and suggesting it may be retaliation for US restrictions on Chinese access to advanced semiconductor technologies.