As tensions rise between the world’s two biggest economies, the Department of Commerce confirmed it had revoked permissions that had allowed US companies to export certain goods to Chinese technology giant Huawei. The US exports computer chips to Huawei starting in 2019, citing ties to the Chinese military.

TikTok has filed a lawsuit to block a US law that would ban the video app in the US unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, calling the act an “ extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights” of the company and its 170 million American users and followers. They asked the court to stop it stating “speculative concerns”.  President Joe Biden signed the bill into law last month, citing national security justifications. After years of debate in Washington, claiming that TikTok’s Chinese ownership raises the risk that data on US users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government or be used for propaganda. TikTok has maintained it is independent of the government, while parent company  ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell the business. The Chinese government has criticised the law as US @bullying” of a foreign firm and signalled it would oppose a sale. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the law was “not a ban. It is a disinvestment”.

Under the new US law, app stores would be barred from offering TikTok in the US stating in January 2025, unless parent company ByteDance found a buyer. President Biden could extend that deadline by 90 days if talks are making progress. ByteDance said the sale requirement was “ simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally and certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the act. ByteDance said “it unfairly singled out TikTok creating two-tiered speech regime with one set of rules for one named platform and another set of rules for everyone else.”

The US has in the past restricted foreign ownership of broadcast television and radio stations which require government licenses to access public airwaves. TikTok aid its business was distinct, and the government could not dictate ownership of “privately created speech forums” and it had spent more than $2bn in an effort to address US concerns, creating safeguards on US data.

Ashley Gorski, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union said TikTok’s lawsuit made a persuasive case that the me4asure was an effective ban, despite White House claims to the contrary, raising free speech concerns,

But Congressman John Moolenaar, the current leader of the committee that helped to craft the law, said he was confident it would be upheld.