Crypto News: A TikTok challenge for China

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With such a deluge of proposed US tariffs, it can be hard to keep up with who's getting whacked where and by how much.

But one target stands out for being offered a surprise break by Donald Trump: China.

Trump suggested this week that he might reduce tariffs on Beijing in return for its support for a sale of TikTok's US operations.

WATCH: Trump says he would consider lowering tariff rates on China to secure support for a sale of US TikTok to an American company.

On one level, it's a typical move by the president-businessman.

Trump has said he's negotiating with four potential bidders for the video-sharing platform. Any deal would require approval from TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance, and China's government.

But at a time when there is cross-party support in Congress to tighten the screws on Beijing pretty much as far as they can go, why even make a pretense of playing nice with President Xi Jinping?

The answer lies in TikTok's viral success, which is based on its content algorithm. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is now China's wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Trump, who once sought to ban the app on national security grounds, now credits it with helping his outreach to younger voters during last year's presidential campaign.

It's hard to overstate the importance of social media in reaching voters directly and unfiltered — and Trump administration officials are experts. After all, Elon Musk presides over X; Trump has Truth Social.

The risk of political social media is that where "likes" once ruled in a more innocent age, secret algorithms now amplify misinformation and feed conspiracy theories. The administration's release of classified papers on President John F. Kennedy's assassination looks like a nod to that audience.

This week's Atlantic exclusive exposing private Signal chats showed that mainstream media has some life in it yet.

Musk responded by mocking the magazine's readership figures — in a post to his 219 million X followers. — Alan Crawford

Elon Musk on the South Lawn of the White House on March 9. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

The US is pushing to control all major future infrastructure and mineral investments in Ukraine under a revised partnership agreement seen by Bloomberg News that would give Washington the "right of first offer," potentially giving it a veto over any role for Kyiv's European and other allies. A coalition of European leaders ruled out easing sanctions on Russia, one of President Vladimir Putin's demands for agreeing to a partial ceasefire with Ukraine.

Freshly excavated iron ore from a mine in Poltava, Ukraine. Photographer: Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg

Ahead of a visit today by Vice President JD Vance to a US military base in Greenland's far north, Putin said that competition in the Arctic between various nations is growing and there's nothing unusual in Trump coveting the island. The Danish territory's centre-right Demokraatit party has forged a four-way coalition government that excludes a hardline independence group following elections shaped by Trump's campaign to bring Greenland under US control.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Istanbul mayor and Turkish opposition figure whose detention this month triggered mass protests and a market selloff, criticized Western leaders for their muted response to his arrest. "Their silence is deafening," Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's main political rival, wrote in a New York Times article published today, as he accused the US and Europe of prioritizing geopolitical interests over democratic values.

Xi vowed to improve market access at a meeting with global business leaders in Beijing today in an effort to boost investor sentiment as rising tariffs fuel uncertainty for the economy and international trade. He told more than 40 leaders of companies that China welcomes their investment, while acknowledging how geopolitical factors — which he called "distractions" — have affected their ability to do business with his country.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed the US's "ironclad commitment" to defend the Philippines and pledged to deploy additional advanced capabilities amid threats from China as he faces calls from Democrats to resign for sharing attack plans with other American officials over the Signal app. Hegseth met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila today as part of his first official trip to Asia that will also include a stop in Japan.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested she won't seek a probe into the Signal group chat that saw Trump administration officials discuss sensitive attack plans, saying people should focus instead on missteps by Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden that were already the subject of major investigations.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an election for May 3, kicking off what's expected to be a closely fought campaign centered on cost-of-living pressures and a housing crisis in a sluggish economy.

Argentina's future program with the International Monetary Fund will be for $20 billion, while executive board approval could take weeks, according to Economy Minister Luis Caputo.

French prosecutors said that ex-President Nicolas Sarközy should be found guilty and sent to jail for seven years over allegations his 2007 winning campaign was covertly funded by millions of euros from the late Moammar Qaddafi's regime.

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Chart of the Day

The Arctic Ocean likely had the least extensive winter ice cover in 47 years of satellite records this season, with just 5.53 million square miles of sea ice at its peak on March 22. It typically reaches its broadest expanse in March, after which the area begins a slow melt over the Northern Hemisphere spring and summer months. The reduction from the median coverage this year is equivalent to an area larger than Peru.

And Finally

Solar energy promises to electrify an African continent that's home to more than 80% of the world's 680 million people who live without power. Plunging solar-panel prices, more business-friendly regulation and international funding are spurring a rapid rollout of so-called mini-grids, which generate electricity for small communities. In January, the World Bank launched a program to get power to 300 million Africans by 2030, a project that could attract $85 billion or more of investment.

Solar panels at a micro grid in Chitandika village, Eastern Province in Zambia. Photographer: Zinyange Auntony/Bloomberg

Pop quiz (no cheating!). Colonies of birds on islands midway between which country and Antarctica are being devastated by a fast-spreading form of avian flu? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net