Biden Admin. Walks Foreign Investment Tightrope With TikTok
CFIUS and Industrial Security Partner Antonia Tzinova spoke with Law360 about President Joe Biden's revocation of Trump-Era executive orders on TikTok, WeChat and similar apps with foreign ownership. Former President Donald Trump sought to ban the apps from the market, but Biden's June 9 executive orders indicate a shift away from an outright ban and a move toward finding a balance between open investing and protecting personal data. Although Biden's orders outline criteria for identifying apps that could pose national security risks, they do not address an ongoing review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) of a proposed hosting deal between Oracle and TikTok. Ms Tzinova, who represents clients before CFIUS, commented that the orders signal a continued focus on countering threats from China.
"This isn't Biden letting go of the China threat," she said. "That has been a consistent issue and concern for the U.S. government [for years], and even more so now because of China's continued and growing presence."
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