US Keeps Reviewing Commercial Proposals for TikTok, Despite Looming Ban, Pompeo Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the Trump administration continues to review the proposal to buy the Chinese video-sharing application TikTok despite the announcement of an impending ban on its transactions and will green-light a sale deal if it guarantees the security of US user data.

"Our goals are really very straightforward - protecting American information data from ending up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. While we are reviewing the proposal trying to evaluate if it can successfully achieve those outcomes - that will be our measure - if it’s the case we will allow private sector entities to move out - to execute a commercial transaction protecting the American people," Pompeo said.

Earlier on Friday, the Commerce Department announced that the United States will start blocking various transactions by TikTok and another Chinese social media application WeChat from this weekend, including their distribution in the country, to enforce executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.

Trump has accused TikTok of poor data security that enables the Chinese government to obtain information on US users. Trump has threatened to ban TikTok in the United States if the company is not sold to a US entity by mid-September.

The US software company Oracle is expected to become a "trusted technology provider" for TikTok in an attempt to overcome the restrictions imposed by the US government.