U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (right) and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng pose in front of cameras at the U.S.-China trade and economic talks held in Madrid, Spain, on the 14th (local time). Yonhap News. 

The United States and China have reached a broad agreement on how to handle TikTok, a Chinese video platform that has raised national security concerns in the U.S., during high-level trade negotiations held in Spain.

However, as both countries appear not to have found complete solutions to key issues such as tariffs and export controls, attention is focused on whether the TikTok agreement will serve as a catalyst for finding an exit from the ongoing trade war, which is currently in a "truce" state.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on his social media platform, Truth Social, on the 15th (local time) that the trade negotiations "went very well" and that an agreement was reached "on a 'certain' company that our country's young people really wanted to save."

The "certain" company mentioned by President Trump is TikTok.

President Trump announced that he plans to discuss the negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 19th.

Speaking to reporters after the negotiations concluded in Madrid, Spain, on the same day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that both sides had agreed on a framework regarding TikTok, stating, "The framework is to change TikTok into an ownership structure controlled by the United States."

Bessent added, "However, I will not get ahead of the leaders' call (between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping) scheduled for Friday the 19th. We have a framework, but the leaders need to confirm the agreement."

Li Chenggang, China's International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, also stated at a press conference that day that "frank, in-depth, and constructive communication was conducted" on economic and trade issues, including TikTok, and that "basic consensus has been reached through cooperation."

While TikTok has gained immense popularity in the U.S., concerns have been raised that its parent company, China's ByteDance, could be used by the Chinese government to steal personal information or engage in hacking, thereby threatening U.S. national security.

In response, the U.S. enacted the so-called "TikTok Ban Act" in April last year, which would prohibit TikTok services in the U.S. unless ByteDance sells its U.S. business operations to an American company.

However, President Trump, considering that his young supporters are avid users of TikTok, has delayed the enforcement of the TikTok ban law since taking office and has been engaged in negotiations with the Chinese side.

President Trump had also proposed to the Chinese government a plan to spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S. entity, with American investors holding more than half of the shares and ByteDance holding only a minority stake. However, this plan reportedly fell through due to opposition from the Chinese government, which reacted negatively to U.S. tariffs.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chinese authorities, who had previously rejected the U.S. demand for ByteDance to sell its controlling stake, agreed to the sale to facilitate President Trump's visit to China.

According to Bloomberg, a U.S. official stated that if there had been no agreement with China on TikTok, the U.S. would have withdrawn plans for President Trump to meet President Xi in person at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea in late October, or for President Trump to make a state visit to China.

The WSJ speculated that a key factor would be whether China would hand over TikTok's algorithm technology, which it had previously designated as an export-controlled item, to the U.S.

At the press conference that day, Vice Minister Li stated, "Regarding the TikTok issue, China opposes the politicization, instrumentalization, and weaponization of technology and economic trade issues," adding, "China will firmly protect its national interests and the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, and will proceed with technology export approvals in accordance with laws and regulations."

Wang Jingtao, deputy director of China's Cyberspace Administration, also stated at the press conference that the agreement between China and the U.S. on TikTok is in the interest of both sides, and expressed hope that "the U.S. will provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies, including TikTok."

U.S. media outlets such as the WSJ and CNN have identified Oracle as the most likely company to acquire a stake in TikTok.

Oracle already provides cloud services to TikTok, and President Trump has supported Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

With both countries reaching a principled agreement on the TikTok issue, the deadline for the forced sale of TikTok, originally set for the 17th, is expected to be extended.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer speak to reporters after concluding trade negotiations with China in Madrid, Spain, on the 15th (local time). Yonhap News. 

While much time was dedicated to the TikTok issue during these negotiations, tariffs were also discussed.

In the first round of negotiations held in Geneva, Switzerland, in May, both countries agreed to lower tariffs by 115 percentage points each and have extended this agreement by 90 days as negotiations progressed.

The tariff suspension agreement is set to expire on November 10th, and the U.S. negotiating team has indicated the possibility of extending the agreement again.

USTR Jamieson Greer told reporters, "We are certainly open to considering further action (extension). If the dialogue continues in a positive direction and the U.S. receives rare earths much better than before, we will do so, but there is still work to be done in this regard."

Bessent stated that cooperation with China on anti-money laundering was also discussed in this negotiation.

Bessent explained that money laundering organizations within China are laundering funds for Mexican drug cartels, causing damage to both the U.S. and Chinese governments, and that China also has a strong desire to cooperate with the U.S.

Regarding the Chinese authorities' announcement of additional investigations into Nvidia for alleged antitrust violations, Bessent stated, "We discussed the inappropriate timing of the Nvidia investigation."

Furthermore, Bessent mentioned that the possibility of imposing tariffs on China's import of Russian crude oil was brought up during the negotiations, but it was not a primary agenda item.

While both sides reached an agreement on TikTok in this negotiation, it appears that differences on other issues, such as tariffs and export controls, have not yet been fully resolved.

Bessent said that the next negotiation with China could take place in about a month, and the agenda would be trade.

Vice Premier He Lifeng urged the U.S. side to "walk in the same direction as China and lift relevant restrictive measures against China as soon as possible," and called on the U.S. to "jointly protect the hard-won achievements of the talks and take concrete measures to continuously create a friendly atmosphere for the stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations."

Vice Minister Li stated, "The U.S. cannot demand that China address its concerns while suppressing Chinese companies," and "China and the United States should make the fullest use of bilateral economic and trade consultation mechanisms to build consensus, reduce misunderstandings, and inject greater stability into bilateral relations and the global economy."

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