The deal comes after years of battles that began when President Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to ban the app over national security concerns.

A year ago, a law that effectively banned TikTok in the U.S. went into effect, though President Trump has not enforced it.

WASHINGTON - TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, on ‍Thursday said it has finalized ‍a deal to establish a majority American-owned joint venture that will secure U.S. data, to avoid a U.S. ban on the short ​video app used by over 200 million Americans.

The remainder of the TikTok US team — in ecommerce, advertising and marketing — will remain under ByteDance. In early January, Chew set up a Delaware limited liability company called TT Commerce & Global Services LLC, registering it to the address of the TikTok US headquarters.

The United States and China have signed off on a deal that would hand control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors backed by the Trump administration, according to a White House official.

TikTok is moving to spin off its U.S. operations into a separate entity controlled by a group of primarily American investors backed by President Donald Trump, the company announced Thursday. The social media app,

American and global investors will hold 80.1 per cent of the new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, while ByteDance will retain a 19.9 per cent stake

This is your periodic reminder that TikTok could still be banned in the U.S., because as of right now, despite various assurances from the Trump administration that a deal will be done ahead of the current extension deadline, there’s been no official statement from TikTok, nor parent company ByteDance, to confirm that any such deal is in place.

The U.S. and China have both signed off on TikTok’s long-awaited divestment deal, clearing way for the popular social media app’s future in the U.S., a White House official confirmed to Scripps News.