Description: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order which would allow TikTok to operate on the US market for another 90 days. The third extension comes amid thawed trade relations between China and the US in recent weeks. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, welcomed the extension stating that President Trump’s office worked on ensuring the app’s market continuity while addressing data and consumer privacy concerns. TikTok is widespread on the US market with a user base of 170 million private clients and additional 7.5 million users from the American business community. Concerns over the usage of the app were raised upon discoveries that TikTok was used as a tool for espionage by Chinese secret services which have stored private client data on servers pertaining to the Chinese government.
Impact: Trump’s authorization for a third extension on TikTok’s ban highlights the dominance of transactional and commercial priorities in the American president’s foreign policy methods. Despite growing concerns that China has abused the app for influence and espionage operations, TikTok’s large client and user base prevails over national security concerns, which in the long – term could undermine significant US national interests. TikTok has so far resisted transferring its ownership to a US – based company signaling the company might be pursuing a different venue for continuing to operate on the US market. ByteDance might exploit the ongoing trade ceasefire between China and the US to push towards other concessions which would ensure Chinese ownership in the company while securing market continuity in the US. The extension indicates the US has adopted a moderate stance towards the situation and pressure over transfer of ownership has significantly reduced in the past couple of months.