TikTok Photo: pixabay.com

 
TikTok's new partnership with a US music distribution company shows that the video-sharing app is still promoting business in the US market although its future is uncertain following the Trump's administration's order for the app's US operations to be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance within 90 days. 

TikTok announced on Monday that it was partnering with US music distribution company UnitedMasters. The deal will allow creators on TikTok to directly distribute their music to streaming platforms like Apple Music.

The move comes just days after the Trump administration ordered TikTok's parent company ByteDance, a Beijing-based tech company, to divest the US operations of the video app within 90 days. Earlier, the US government had ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok in 45 days but later extended the deadline for the sale. 

Telecommunications expert Fu Liang said that TikTok is still "doing what it should do" with business development as chances are good that its business in the US will continue. 

"Whatever the future is, it's unlikely that TikTok would disappear in the US market as a result of the China-US dispute," he told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

According to Fu, it's hard to predict TikTok's fate in the US market currently. It might be sold to a US juggernaut, but a US management buyout is another option.

"Before the results of the 2020 US presidential election come out, the Trump administration will keep on highlighting its crackdown on Chinese companies. It's possible that they might further postpone the final decision on TikTok until after the election," Fu said. 

Liu Xingliang, director of the Beijing-based Data Center of China Internet, told the Global Times that TikTok is pushing business as normal instead of "awaiting its doom." He also added that the US government's policies toward TikTok might change along with new twists in China-US relations.