Washington (AFP)

The US government will study this week a "proposal" transmitted by the Chinese group ByteDance, including the US company Oracle, to try to resolve the dispute over the successful TikTok platform, whose US activities are under threat of imminent closure.

"We received a proposal over the weekend that includes Oracle as a trusted technology partner, with numerous national security recommendations," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Monday on CNBC.

Donald Trump's minister did not specify in what form the partnership could take place between the Chinese group and Oracle, specializing in software and services for businesses.

An agreement nevertheless seems to be emerging, since Oracle confirmed for its part in a press release, that its proposal is part of that "submitted by ByteDance to the Treasury Department over the weekend".

A source familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the agreement will "probably not be structured as an outright sale" while some media citing Chinese sources, on Monday referred to a "privileged technological partnership" and not a sale of Tik Tok's US operations.

Donald Trump had demanded by decree a sale of operations, it remains to be seen whether a partnership could satisfy the host of the White House.

Time is running out since the deadline has been set for September 20, Sunday, said Steven Mnuchin.

The US president, who accuses TikTok of spying on behalf of the Chinese government, had mentioned Tuesday as a deadline.

TikTok challenges the US measure and has filed a complaint against the US government.

- "National security" -

Oracle's proposal will be examined "this week by the Cfius committee", which reviews foreign investment in the United States, said Steven Mnuchin.

"Then we will make a recommendation to the president and discuss it with him," he added.

Discussions will be conducted "with Oracle over the next few days", concerning data security, he also said.

Steven Mnuchin refused to "go into the details of the negotiation", insisting that the sine qua non was the preservation of national security.

The Trump administration will ensure "that the technology on American phones is secure," he continued, citing "great confidence in Microsoft and Oracle".

The listing of Oracle stock was suspended shortly after the opening of the New York Stock Exchange.

Microsoft had expressed its interest in the takeover of TikTok's US operations in early August.

The Walmart supermarket group had allied with him in these negotiations before the operation was rejected Sunday by ByteDance, the parent company of the social network.

In addition to activities in the United States, those present in Canada, Australia and New Zealand are also on the table.

- "Dark days" -

"We think that Microsoft wanted to buy TikTok only WITH its main algorithm, a concession on which the Chinese government and ByteDance absolutely did not want to give up," Daniel Ives, analyst for the investment company Wedbush Securities, had deciphered in a note Sunday.

For its part, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce had ignited a counterfire by amending - for the first time since 2008 - its list of technologies subject to export restrictions or bans.

This now includes, among other things, artificial intelligence technologies (data processing, content recommendation, etc.) that have made the success of the TikTok application, where videos are displayed on users' screens. mainly according to their tastes, and much less to their contacts.

ByteDance had immediately made it known that it "would strictly respect" the new Beijing rules, that is to say obtaining an export license from the authorities.

In addition to being a diplomatic issue, the fate of TikTok in the United States raises major economic and societal questions.

In August, the app, popular with teens, exceeded 2 billion downloads worldwide and claims a presence in more than 200 countries.

© 2020 AFP