On Jan. 18 at 10:30 pm EST the app TikTok was shut down in the United States. The U.S. shutdown was due to the concerns by the American government because of the believed threat to national security. The threat included concerns over data privacy for users and TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government. Donald Trump has spoken out during the election, stating that the Chinese Government is not a harm to the U.S. and that Trump is willing to negotiate a deal to buy a stake in the company on behalf of the United States. Trump stated that he will hold back the ban for 75 days to have more time for Shou Zi Chew the TikTok CEO to give a stake of 50% to Trump.
On Jan. 21. Trump believed he signed a contract that America has the right to 50% of the company. He added that if China tries to block the deal, he will add a 25-100% tariff on all imported Chinese goods. This tariff would strongly affect the United States economy due to America relying on Chinese imports and exports. This will hurt Americans since China will then raise their tariffs on American goods. These new tariffs will affect the middle class to extreme measures, contradicting who Trump said he would help. “The TikTok ban did not shock me at all, I saw it coming and I was surprised why everyone was shocked.” Bemnet Samuel ’27.
