By David Lawder and Pietro Lombardi
September 15, 2025 – 6:38 AM PDT
MADRID (Reuters) – The U.S. and China reached a framework deal on short-video app TikTok as part of broader talks on tariffs and economic policy that concluded in Madrid on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
A deal would allow TikTok to keep operating in the United States where it has faced being shut down as soon as September 17 unless it moved to U.S. ownership.
“The framework is for a switch to a U.S.-controlled ownership,” Bessent told reporters in Madrid at the conclusion of two days of talks, without providing further details.
There could be a short extension of the September 17 deadline for TikTok to finalise the framework deal, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.
“It would not have been extended without a framework,” Bessent said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping would speak on Friday, Bessent said.
The U.S. had earlier on Monday threatened to go ahead with a ban on the popular social media app unless China dropped demands for concessions on reduced tariffs and technological restrictions as part of a divestiture deal.
Bessent said there would probably be another round of talks in the coming days to discuss trade and economic policy issues.
The two sides also discussed ways to cooperate on money laundering and on curbing the illicit fentanyl trade, he said.
(This story has been refiled to remove the extraneous word ‘a,’ in paragraph 1)
Reporting by David Lawder, Pietro Lombardi and Ethan Wang Writing by Charlie Devereux Editing by Susan Fenton
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