Will TikTok verdict by US top court set the tone for China ties under Trump 2.0?

The US Supreme Court’s coming verdict on TikTok would influence Chinese firms’ willingness to engage in the US market and also be the first glimpse into the future of US-China ties with Donald Trump back in the White House, observers said.

The US Supreme Court on Friday heard oral arguments that are likely to determine whether the hugely popular short-video app can continue operating in the United States without severing ties to its Chinese parent, tech company ByteDance.

President Joe Biden signed a law in April to ban the app within a year unless it was divested from ByteDance. TikTok and its millions of US users are seeking to block the ban, citing the right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

While the timeline for a ruling remains uncertain, TikTok would shut down for its 170 million American users from January 19 if the verdict went against it.

Meanwhile, questions posed by Supreme Court justices on Friday appeared to highlight national security concerns rather than the free-speech arguments put forward by TikTok and its content creators.