Amazon Bids For TikTok As Deadline Approaches

E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) has submitted a bid to purchase the popular social media app TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance.

Seattle-based Amazon submitted a proposal to acquire TikTok, a short-form video app that’s popular with teens, to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Amazon’s bid comes days before a U.S. ban on TikTok is set to go into effect.

The video app faces another shutdown in the U.S. on April 5 if ByteDance, its privately held parent company, cannot reach a deal to divest TikTok’s American operations.

TikTok was initially banned in January of this year before U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day extension.

There are concerns in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world that China uses the TikTok app to spy on users and steal their data and personal information.

In Canada, the TikTok app has been banned from the work phones of federal government workers over worries about Chinese spying.

President Trump is expected to announce a decision on TikTok’s fate in the U.S. in coming days. Mobile technology company AppLovin (APP) has also made a bid for TikTok.

TikTok is emerging as a major e-commerce company as it has poured money into growing its online marketplace called “TikTok Shop.”

The TikTok app has more than 170 million users worldwide and could be an attractive asset for Amazon or another company that purchases it.

Amazon’s stock has declined 11% so far this year to trade at $196.01 U.S. per share.