Washington, US – Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he is putting together a team of investors to buy TikTok from its Chinese owners.
On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would force TikTok to divest from its parent company or face a nationwide ban.
Mnuchin said he strongly supported the bill, which must now go to the Senate for approval.
US President Joe Biden supports the bill and has vowed to sign it if passed.
“I think the legislation should pass and I think (TikTok) should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC.
Mnuchin, who served for four years as former president Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary, said that TikTok was “a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy” the embattled app.
“This should be owned by US businesses. There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China,” Mnuchin said.
Earlier on Thursday a Chinese commerce ministry official said the US should “stop unjustly suppressing foreign companies” and take “all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
Another official in Beijing said the US was “following the logic of a bandit” with the law.