TikTok has more time (still)

The White House is once again giving more to the Chinese parent company of TikTok to satisfy national security concerns, rather than taking legal action, a source familiar with the situation told Axios.

The state of play: China’s ByteDance had until Friday to resolve the issues raised by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. This was the company’s third deadline, with CFIUS having provided two earlier extensions.

And now: The source says that CFIUS does not provide another formal extension, but rather a de facto as the two sides continue their negotiations.

• Talks were halted around the election, but have resumed in recent weeks, with a few outstanding issues newly resolved.
• The proposed plan, which President Trump agreed in principle to in September, would be for TikTok to be controlled by a group of U.S. entities, including Oracle, Walmart and several venture capital firms, with ByteDance to retain a minority stake.

CFIUS could still ask the US Department of Justice to enforce the order and take action against ByteDance, as no formal extension has been provided.

• Trump’s executive order that TikTok be shut down in the United States – which is different from the CFIUS order – has been temporarily suspended by the courts.

What they say: “The Committee engages with ByteDance to complete the divestment and other necessary steps to resolve the national security risks arising from the transaction, in accordance with the President’s Order of August 14,” a spokesperson for the Trésor, after the publication of this article.