“Relations between the two countries remain very strong!!!” Trump posted on social media on Monday. Trump also mentioned the high-level officials’ meeting held in Madrid and said that the meeting “went very well!”
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary who led the talks in Spain, told reporters that both sides have reached a framework agreement to ensure the continued operation of TikTok, a ByteDance-owned app, in the United States. Li Chenggang, the vice minister of Commerce of China, also told reporters in Madrid that both sides have reached a “consensus” on the TikTok issue, but at the same time warned that Beijing would not sacrifice its principles to reach an agreement.
Later on Monday, Trump told reporters that it was not yet decided whether Beijing would continue to hold shares in the new joint venture. Trump said that what he cared about most was, “frankly speaking, and more importantly, achieving something big.”
The specific terms of TikTok’s blueprint and whether they comply with the requirements of the US national security law that came into effect in January this year remain unclear.
The official added that Trump’s state visit to China would also be impossible. As the issue was sensitive, the official requested anonymity.
The Madrid talks were held ahead of the deadline later this week for an agreement to divest TikTok’s US operations to comply with US national security laws. Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline to keep the popular app running. He believes TikTok helped him boost his appeal among young voters in the last election.
I think this framework is to transfer the ownership of TikTok to American control.
Wang Jingtao, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, mentioned TikTok’s entrusting of the operation of US user data and other methods, as well as algorithms and intellectual property rights, but did not elaborate specifically.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamie L. Greer also spoke in Madrid on Monday, saying that it is possible to extend the suspension of the highest tariffs again when the November deadline arrives.
Greer told reporters, “If the negotiations continue to develop in a positive direction, we are certainly willing to consider taking further actions.”
Besenst and Greer pointed out that the focus of the Madrid talks was TikTok, and negotiations on other issues were largely postponed. Even so, he said, Chinese officials still expressed concerns over US export controls.
On the eve of Sunday’s negotiations, China launched two investigations into the US semiconductor industry. Not long before that, the United States added 23 other Chinese companies, including chipmakers, to a list of enterprises deemed to “violate US national security or foreign policy interests”.
Besant told reporters on Monday: “We will hold trade talks in about a month’s time and the venue will be different.” Previously, Besant had held talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm in July, in London in June and in Geneva in May. The finance minister said it was “too early to tell” whether a trade deal with China could be reached before the APEC summit.
