ByteDance's bid to keep most of TikTok faces major hurdles

(New York) China's ByteDance faces an uphill struggle to convince the White House to allow it to keep majority ownership of its popular short video app TikTok in the United States, according to former national security officials and regulatory lawyers.

Trump ordered ByteDance last month to divest TikTok amid U.S. concerns that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app could be passed on to China's Communist Party government. He has threatened to ban TikTok in the United States as early as Sept. 20 if ByteDance does not comply.

ByteDance has submitted a plan to U.S. officials for it to keep a majority stake in TikTok's global business and create headquarters for TikTok in the United States, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The proposal is being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. government panel chaired by the U.S. Treasury Department.