TikTok deal still has chance, but WeChat is 'dead' in US, senior administration official says

 Although the Commerce Department has announced a trading ban, a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States could be made, a senior Trump administration official told CNBC on Friday.

However, the official said WeChat, the social messaging app owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, was "dead in the United States."

Earlier on Friday, the Commerce Department announced that it was banning US business transactions involving TikTok and WeChat. As of Sunday, WeChat and TikTok will no longer be distributed by US companies, eliminating their availability in US app store libraries.

WeChat will be able to continue working for the people who have it installed on their devices, according to senior executives who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. But problems can arise because WeChat uses services run by US companies to deliver data in the app.

Stricter restrictions on TikTok in the United States are expected to take effect on November 12, based on Friday's trade movements. The measures are the latest development in weeks of uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump's claims that Chinese-owned apps pose national security risks to US users.

An agreement could still be reached between Oracle and Walmart to acquire stakes in TikTok. Oracle said earlier in the week that it had struck a deal with TikTok, but Trump said days later he was not ready to sign a proposal to make the California-based cloud company a technical partner for social media application. Trump has indicated that he wants the U.S. partners to own more of the entity.

Negotiations on the TikTok deal could continue over the weekend, as "a lot of the key things" need to be resolved, including the ownership structure and questions about the TikTok program. However, the official said there was a chance the deal would be finalized before recent trade ministry restrictions took effect.

The Trump administration does not want a separate deal involving WeChat, which is a vital app for Americans to communicate with friends and family in China.

In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for Tencent said it "has always included the highest standards of user privacy and data security" and called the Commerce Department's restrictions "regrettable."

"But given our desire to provide ongoing services to our users in the United States - for whom WeChat is an important communication tool - we will continue to discuss with the government and other stakeholders in the United States how to achieve this. to a long-term solution, ”the spokesperson said.