ByteDance says it may take legal action in U.S. over Trump order

The ByteDance logo is seen on the facade of its headquarters in Beijing, China, August 8, 2018. /Reuters

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, said on Friday that it will take legal action if the U.S. government does not treat the company fairly.

The company issued a statement after U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order barring transactions with ByteDance and also Tencent, the owner of WeChat, starting in 45 days.

The executive orders came as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge what it calls "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat "significant threats."

In ByteDance's statement, the company said it is "shocked" by Trump's order, adding that, in the past year, it kept seeking communications with the U.S. side and offering constructive resolutions to relieve their concerns.

However, the U.S. government has ignored facts and violated due process of law over the signing of an executive order to bar all transactions with the company, said the statement. The executive order will jeopardize global businesses' trust in the U.S.'s commitment to the rule of law.

"We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly – if not by the Administration, then by the U.S. courts," ByteDance said in the statement.

ByteDance's short video sharing app TikTok is so far one of the most popular Chinese internet sensations in the global market.

As TikTok's second largest user base, the U.S. has seen an increase of 45 million new users in 2020 alone. The app has been downloaded more than 165 million times on app stores, according to Sensor Tower data.