US President Trump said today (27) that he would be willing to consider lowering tariffs on China if China agrees to sell TikTok's US business under ByteDance to US companies. This statement came just as Trump announced that he would impose a 25% import tariff on all non-US-made cars, further increasing pressure on China.

TikTok transaction progress and possible delay

Trump revealed that he expects to reach a preliminary framework for the TikTok deal by next week. Even if no agreement is reached, Trump will consider extending the "sell or ban" period. He stressed that he had the right to an extension.

Trump said he is currently in talks with four potential buyers, but did not disclose the specific list of buyers. Known bidders include a consortium led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, as well as Jesse Tinsley and MrBeast's team from the tech investment community. Oracle is also reportedly interested in participating and has proposed retaining TikTok's algorithm in order to gain China's support.

Under U.S. law, the transaction for TikTok's U.S. business must be completed by April 5 or face a ban. And any deal would require not only Trump’s approval, but also the consent of ByteDance and the Chinese government.

If the transaction is completed smoothly, ByteDance will still be able to retain TikTok's algorithm to some extent, but such a plan may not meet the US asset divestiture requirements, and there is still a lot of room for discussion.

US stocks fell across the board, auto stocks fell sharply

Under the pressure of Trump's tariffs, the four major U.S. stock indexes fell across the board on the 26th:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 132.71 points, or 0.31%, to close at 42,454.79.
• The Nasdaq index fell 372.84 points, or 2.04%, to close at 17,899.01.
• The S&P 500 index fell 64.45 points, or 1.12%, to close at 5,712.2.
• The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 152.59 points, or 3.27%, to close at 4,508.74.

Auto stocks became the center of selling pressure, with US auto giant General Motors falling 3.12%, multinational auto giant Stellantis falling 3.55%, and electric car giant Tesla falling 5.58%.

Asian auto stocks also suffered a sharp drop at the opening today. Toyota's share price fell 4% at one point, Honda fell 3.1%, Nissan fell 3.5%, Mazda fell by more than 5% at its lowest point, South Korea's Hyundai Motor fell 3.2% at one point, and Kia fell 2.7%.