American retail giant Walmart could join forces with technology giant Microsoft in a bid for the American operations of the Chinese social network TikTok, which U.S. President Donald Trump intends to ban. TikTok allows users to create short videos, often with rudimentary effects and music, and is among the most popular in the U.S.
Recently, it has found itself in a precarious position due to tense diplomatic and trade relations between Washington and Beijing.
Trump’s administration claims that China will use the app to collect data on American consumers and has labeled it a “threat” to national security. The U.S. military has already banned its use, and it has also been blocked in India due to the conflict between Beijing and New Delhi.
The U.S. President has set a deadline of September 15 for TikTok to sell its American operations to a domestic company, threatening that it will otherwise be banned. Microsoft has shown interest, confirming that it is in talks with Chinese ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, about acquiring the app in the U.S. and several other countries by September 15.
Walmart is the largest retail chain in the U.S. and has recently been trying to compete more seriously with Amazon in online sales. “We see value in TikTok’s ‘e-commerce and advertising capabilities,'” Walmart explained its interest in the Chinese app.
“We are confident that the partnership between Walmart and Microsoft will meet the expectations of American TikTok users and alleviate the concerns of U.S. regulators,” Walmart stated.
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned on Wednesday, as it became clear that the business he took over earlier this year had fundamentally changed under the pressure created by the U.S. President.
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