US President Donald Trump says that he would be willing to reduce tariffs to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans.

That’s as ByteDance faces an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a US ban on national security grounds that was supposed to have taken effect in January under a 2024 law.

Now Trump’s willingness of leniency also comes as he further ratcheted up the global trade war, pressing ahead with a 25 per cent tariff on all imported auto vehicles. 

How might China respond to this? Would this be something China will be willing to negotiate? 

On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Dr Dylan Loh, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University to find out more. 

Presented by: Hongbin Jeong

Produced and Edited by: Nadiah Koh (nadkoh@sph.com.sg) and Hongbin Jeong

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