President Trump on Thursday set high expectations for his Friday call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He described a deal over TikTok as all but completed and added that he is looking to make progress on broader issues like tariffs.
The president spoke about a deal around the social media app in the past tense — even as some issues remain publicly unresolved — promising that the final company will be controlled by “all American investors.”
Trump added during the appearance in the UK that he is also looking to discuss an array of issues with his counterpart, saying. “On a much bigger scale, we’re pretty close to a deal.”
The highly anticipated call between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies is set for Friday, reportedly at 9 a.m. ET.
Chinese state media confirmed a TikTok framework deal had been reached but offered a somewhat different summary, saying, among other things, that there was a “consensus reached by both parties, for the continued operation of Chinese enterprises, including TikTok, in the United States.”
The core question surrounds how the Chinese-controlled algorithm that has long powered TikTok will continue to be used if the app is spun off into a separate US-led company.
Trump offered little insight on Thursday, saying, “TikTok has tremendous value,” and rather than let it go to waste, he added, “I’d rather reap the benefits.”
Reports of the deal have suggested that a consortium led by tech giant Oracle (ORCL), venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and private equity firm Silver Lake Management will spearhead the attempt to keep TikTok operational in the US.
Trump sounded very confident Thursday, adding that he expected to address a range of other issues Friday and that a partial tariff detente could be extended.
“We may do an extension with China, but it’s an extension based on the same terms that we have right now, which are pretty good terms,” he said.
Current duties between the two nations are 30% on Chinese imports and 10% on US goods. Sector-specific tariffs on goods like steel and some medical supplies are currently pushing the effective tariff rate between the two countries higher.
If a current 90-day pause is allowed to expire in early November, it could mean a return to triple-digit tariffs that were briefly in place at the beginning of Trump’s term.
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
Friday’s call will be the first reported conversation between the two men since June. It comes after a meeting in Spain earlier this week among their aides that focused on both tariffs and TikTok.
