Microsoft has reportedly suspended its talks with Chinese-company Bytedance over TikTok acquisition. According to Dow Jones, the Redmond-based software giant has discontinued the TikTok acquisition talks over strong opposition by the US President Donald Trump. After the initial go-ahead by President Trump, TikTok offered additional concessions such as the addition of over 10000 jobs in the US over the span of the next three years.
There were reports that Trump was in favour of the acquisition by Microsoft. However, he opposed the deal by stating that Microsoft will only act as a background player with the majority of work will be carried out by Bytedance itself. The company agreed to add 10000 more jobs over the upcoming three years as part of the deal. The deal will give employment to US-based citizens instead of Chinese.
If Microsoft acquires TikTok, then it would be a significant achievement for both the parties. Like PM Modi in India, Trump is vert critical about Chinese companies after the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Government is very much disappointed with the way Chinese authorities handled the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in numerous deaths across the world.
The Indian Government, meanwhile, has been in a bad taste with China after the deadly clash between the Indian and Chinese forces. The encounter has resulted in the death of over 20 Indian soldiers. The Modi Government had banned 59 Chinese apps towards the end of June.
The authorities banned 47 apps in the second round, which are said to be clones of the apps that were banned in the first round. Moreover, the Government has banned the import of Chinese TV sets without prior permission from the Ministry of Foreign Trade. We had noticed that e-commerce marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon have been selling low-cost Chinese TV sets.
The company will now have to obtain special permission from the foreign trade department to import TVs. This development will be a big boost for Make in India initiative since all companies will be forced to setup their own production facilities. Xiaomi has welcomed the move and stated that nearly 95 percent of their TV sets are locally manufactured in India.