Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The Chinese owner of the popular TikTok video app says it is seeking to resolve the Trump administration's security concerns as it reached a Thursday deadline to divest U.S. interests.
Beijing-based ByteDance ran up against the deadline two days after petitioning a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to vacate an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in August forcing it to sell the app's American operations.
In the petition, the company is seeking a 30-day extension from the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
It remained unclear, however, if the administration would immediately attempt to enforce 90-day its deadline.
After asking the court to intervene, ByteDance officials said they are "committed to working with the administration -- as we have all along -- to resolve the issues it has raised, but our legal challenge today is a protection to ensure these discussions can take place."
In his order, Trump classified TikTok a national security threat because it collects American users' data that could be accessed by the Chinese government. ByteDance denies the accusation and sued the Trump administration in August.
The U.S. government tentatively approved a deal in September for Oracle and Walmart to acquire a 20% stake in a new company, Global ByteDance, but the transaction wasn't completed following opposition from the Chinese government.
