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Steve Mnuchin, previously an advisor to Trump, intends to purchase TikTok from ByteDance, which has incensed China with its 'Thief's Reasoning'
This isn't the first time an effort has been made to shift TikTok's control to US bodies by Steve Mnuchin. In 2020, the then-president Trump endorsed a potential agreement between Oracle and Walmart to form a US-centric business that would acquire TikTok.
Steve Mnuchin, who previously served as the US Treasury Secretary and was a trusted advisor to ex-US President Donald Trump, has made public his plans to gather investors for the acquisition of TikTok from its Chinese parent firm, ByteDane.
This news comes after the House of Representatives approved a bill intended to prohibit the app in the US and eliminate it from all app stores unless ByteDance sells off its US business.
The House of Representatives is making efforts to regulate TikTok and its ties with ByteDance, due to worries about national security. However, so far, the US Senate has not set a date to vote on this proposed law.
President Joe Biden has indicated his readiness to approve the bill if it makes it to his desk, although its prospects in the Senate are still unclear.
While appearing on CNBC's business show Squawk Box, Mnuchin, who was a part of former President Donald Trump's administration from 2017 to 2021, expressed his plans for TikTok.
Mnuchin stressed the significance of the US having ownership over TikTok in order to maintain the level of access to American user data that it currently has. He further mentioned that a similar scenario, where a US company closely associated with the US government collected large volumes of data like TikTok, would not be allowed in China.
The specifics of Mnuchin's strategies, including possible investors, are still unclear. However, this isn't the initial effort to shift TikTok's ownership to US organizations. Back in 2020, the then President Trump backed a suggested agreement that involved Oracle and Walmart to establish a US-centric business.
American lawmakers have been worried for some time about the massive number of users on TikTok, due to potential data security threats stemming from its ownership by a Chinese company. The latest vote in the House on whether to ban TikTok was massively in favor, with 352 votes for and 65 against.
China refers to it as "Thief's Reasoning, Unjust Oppression." Responding to the decision of the House, Beijing rebuked the US, alleging it of employing a "thief's reasoning" regarding TikTok. Chinese authorities appealed to Washington to stop the unjust oppression of overseas businesses.
Should the Senate pass the proposed legislation and it gets ratified by President Biden, ByteDance will be given a six-month timeframe to transfer ownership of TikTok to a non-Chinese organization, or risk being eliminated from US application stores.
TikTok has embarked on Project Texas, a revamp plan intended to protect the data of US users from Chinese interference, which includes collaborations with US firms such as Oracle. The platform has further branched out into online retail, producing significant income.
The shared apprehension about TikTok among different political parties highlights the larger fears about China's impact in diverse areas. Regardless of political differences, both Democrats and Republicans endorse strategies to confront these issues.
ByteDance has strongly resisted the proposed prohibition, stating that it would hurt small enterprises and interfere with its functioning. TikTok's main source of income is from advertisements, but its online shopping platform has seen substantial growth.
Meanwhile, ByteDance is encouraging its American users to contact their local senators and representatives to communicate the importance of TikTok for their businesses. They want to emphasize that TikTok has become a vital source of income for some content creators.
Instagram, a subsidiary of Meta, has surfaced as the primary rival of TikTok in the US by implementing comparable functionalities to lure users. Instagram managed to overtake TikTok as the most frequently downloaded application worldwide the previous year.
Discussions are still ongoing, leaving TikTok's future in the US hanging in the balance. This has major repercussions for the technology sector and the country's national security.
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