Delegations from both sides are currently holding bilateral talks on issues including trade.
Shares of Meta, Snap, Pinterest, and Alphabet climbed 0.5% to 1% in early premarket trading on Monday, after officials signaled that the U.S. and China were close to reaching an agreement ahead of the looming TikTok U.S. divestiture deadline, according to a Reuters report.
A delegation from the U.S., led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and a Chinese group led by Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Sunday in Madrid, Spain. In an unusual move, the two sides discussed TikTok, alongside trade and economic issues, at the meeting, which continues on Monday.
Bessent, speaking early Monday morning in Spain, indicated progress on a potential TikTok deal but said that even if a plan for TikTok divestiture is not agreed upon, it would not affect U.S.-China relations.
He said both sides had made good progress on technical details, but reaching a deal on other issues would be challenging.
“Our Chinese counterparts have come with a very aggressive ask,” he added. “We will see if we can get there at present. We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app.”
Shares of Oracle, widely seen as a top contender to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, were up 0.6%. Shares of Microsoft, which is also reportedly in the fray, were down 0.3%.
The U.S. has ruled that TikTok has to either sell its U.S. business to a local company or shut down, citing national security reasons. The deadline to do so has been extended multiple times and is now set for Sept. 17.
TikTok had not been discussed in previous rounds of U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva, London, and Stockholm in recent months.
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