Mnuchin said he has spoken to several top American lawmakers and
all agree that 'there has to be a change'
Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said TikTok, the Chinese-owned video
app, cannot stay in the current format in the US as it "risks sending back
information on 100 million Americans".
His comments came
two days after President Donald Trump on Friday said he will act to ban TikTok
in the US, amidst reports of American technology giant Microsoft being in
advanced talks to acquire the popular video sharing platform.
"I've said
publicly that it's under review. I will say publicly that the entire committee
agrees that TikTok
cannot stay in the current format because it risks sending back information on
100 million Americans," Mnuchin, who chairs the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States, told the ABC News in an interview.
Mnuchin said he
has spoken to several top American lawmakers and all agree that "there has
to be a change".
"The
president can either force a sale or the president can block the app using
IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act). And I'm not going to
comment on my specific discUSons with the president, he said in response to a
qUSion.
Trump on Friday
said he could use the emergency economic powers or an executive order to ban
TikTok in the US.
The president also
made it clear that he was not in favour of a deal to let a US company buy
TikTok's American operations.
India has banned
as many as 106 Chinese apps, including TikTok, a move welcomed by both the
Trump administration and the US lawmakers.
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