Amazon logo on the exterior of a brick building, San Francisco, California, August 20, 2024.
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Amazon Representatives have met with the House China Committee in recent months to discuss lawmakers’ concerns about the company’s partnership with TikTok, according to CNBC.
A spokesperson for the House Select Committee on the Communist Party of China confirmed talks centered on the shopping agreement between Amazon and TikTok announced in August. The agreement will allow users of TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, to link their accounts with Amazon and make purchases from the site without leaving TikTok.
“The task force advised that it would be dangerous and unwise for Amazon to partner with TikTok given the significant national security threat posed by the app,” the spokesperson said. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the news, the two parties met in September.
Representatives for Amazon and TikTok did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
It’s unclear whether TikTok will survive in the U.S. in the future. President Joe Biden signed legislation in April requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok by January 19th. If TikTok does not sever ties with its parent company, app stores and internet hosting services will be prohibited from offering the app.
President-elect Donald Trump could save TikTok from a possible ban by the United States. He promised to “save” TikTok during his campaign, and in a March interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he said the app had “a lot of good and a lot of bad.”
President Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first administration. His attitude changed around the time he met billionaire Jeff Yass. Republican megadonor trading firm Susquehanna International Group owns 15% of ByteDance, and Yas owns 7% of the company, NBC and CNBC reported in March.
—CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.
