Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that TikTok will go dark for Americans unless China agrees to give the U.S. more control over the popular short-form video app.
“We’ve made the decision. You can’t have Chinese control and have something on 100 million American phones,” Lutnick told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Thursday.
TikTok’s future in the U.S. has been uncertain since 2024, when Congress passed a bill that would ban the platform unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it.
Lawmakers had grown concerned that the Chinese government could access sensitive data from American users or manipulate content on the platform.
Deal talks have dragged.
Last month, President Donald Trump extended the deadline for a third time since taking office in January. Now, ByteDance has until Sept. 17. to divest TikTok’s U.S. business.
“Basically, Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology. Americans will control the algorithm. That’s something Donald Trump is willing to do,” Lutnick said.
He added that if China doesn’t approve the deal, “then TikTok is going to go dark.”
It’s not clear where deal talks stand. Trump told Fox News in an interview late last month that he has a group of “very wealthy people” ready to buy the platform.
Earlier this month, the private equity firm Blackstone pulled out of a consortium bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to a report from Reuters.
WATCH: Howard Lutnick on TikTok: App will go dark if China won’t agree to U.S. control
