TikTok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration taken November 27, 2019.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
ByteDance has been given another week to sell off TikTok’s U.S. business and avoid a ban, according to reports.
The Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) has told ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, it now has until Dec. 4 to secure a deal. The extension comes after the original deadline of Nov. 12 was pushed back to Nov. 27.
A spokesperson for the Treasury told the Financial Times and the BBC that CFIUS had granted the extension “to allow time to review a revised submission” that it has recently received.
President Donald Trump told ByteDance on Aug. 14 that it must find a suitable buyer for TikTok’s U.S. business in 90 days or face being blocked in the country. Trump signed a CFIUS directive at the time, saying the short video app presented a national security risk. TikTok has repeatedly denied it poses any such risk.
The directive states ByteDance must “divest any tangible or intangible assets or property, wherever located, used to enable or support ByteDance’s operation of the TikTok application in the United States.”
Walmart and Oracle have been discussing a potential deal for months but nothing has materialized. Other companies, including Microsoft, were also in the running at various points.
Earlier this month, CNBC reported that TikTok hasn’t had meaningful dialogue with CFIUS for weeks. At the time, executives at TikTok were still interested in completing a technology partnership with Oracle to satisfy national security concerns — even if President-elect Joe Biden isn’t as concerned with TikTok’s risk profile under Chinese ownership.
The U.S. Treasury and TikTok did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
