*

White House-led talks focus on non-Chinese bidders

*

Chinese government approval remains a major hurdle for

sale

(Adds report on potential Walmart ( WMT ) investment interest in

paragraph 8)

By David Shepardson and Dawn Chmielewski

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

on Friday extended by 75 days a deadline for Chinese technology

company ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of popular short video app

TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban that was supposed to

take effect in January under a 2024 law.

"The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary

approvals are signed," Trump said, explaining why he was

extending the deadline he set in January that was supposed to

expire Saturday. "We hope to continue working in good faith with

China, who I understand is not very happy about our reciprocal

tariffs."

China now faces a 54% tariff on goods imported into the

United States. Trump has said he would be willing to reduce

tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance.

Trump has said his administration was in touch with four

different groups about a prospective TikTok deal. He has not

identified them.

"We do not want TikTok to 'go dark,'" Trump added.

The White House-led talks on the future of TikTok, which is

used by about half of all Americans, are coalescing around a

plan for the biggest non-Chinese investors in parent company

ByteDance to increase their stakes and acquire the app's U.S.

operations, Reuters has reported.

The plan entails spinning off a U.S. entity for TikTok and

diluting Chinese ownership in the new business to below the 20

percent threshold required by U.S. law, rescuing the app from a

looming U.S. ban, sources have told Reuters.

Jeff Yass' Susquehanna International Group and Bill Ford's

General Atlantic, both of which are represented on ByteDance's

board, are leading discussions with the White House, Reuters has

reported.

Walmart ( WMT ) is also considering joining a group of

investors in a deal for TikTok, an ABC News reporter said on

social media. The big retailer, which had expressed an interest

in investing in TikTok in 2020, did not immediately respond to a

Reuters' request for comment.

The biggest stumbling block to any deal for TikTok's U.S.

business is Chinese government approval. Until now, Beijing has

not made a public commitment to allow a sale.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.