TikTok Buyout Cut to US Treasury 'Unusual', Trump Wants to Deny China Part of Sale Proceeds - Kudlow

The announcement comes after "phase one" trade deal was signed in January amid the ongoing trade war between the world's two biggest economies, which spread from tariffs on steel and aluminium to the tech sector, spiking tensions between competitors.

It would be unusual for a company buying out TikTok's US operations to give a share of the proceeds to the US Treasury, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said at a presser on Wednesday.

“Well he’s said that. I acknowledge that it’s unusual. The president has his own mind on some of these things,” Kudlow told CNBC as quoted by Reuters.

The Washington aide added that President Donald Trump wants to block China from receiving a part of the proceeds in ByteDance's TikTok sale.

“I don’t know whether that will end up being the case when the Treasury gets its bids in from potential bidders. But the president has said that. I think he probably would like to deny China some of the proceeds of the TikTok sale,” he added.

The statements contradict comments from Trump, who demanded the Chinese startup sell its US operations by 15 September or face a ban across the US, citing allegations that the popular video sharing app could harvest data for Beijing.

Numerous American companies have entered talks on the sale of ByteDance's operations in Five Eyes countries such as the US Canada, New Zealand and Australia, including Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp, according to sources.

Concerns over the forced sale have been voiced by several officials, including Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, who criticised claims on the need of such a buyout.

The Chinese firm has stated intentions to build a €420m data centre in Ireland for its European users in a bid to strengthen cybersecurity and reduce loading times, the company announced in August.

Beijing plans to hold phone talks with counterparts in Washington on the sale in the upcoming "phase one" trade negotiations on agricultural goods and exchange rates, among others, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said as quoted by CNBC.