NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States’ web of trade restrictions has a TikTok-sized hole in it.
The Commerce Department added another 28 Chinese firms to its trade blacklist on Thursday, requiring licenses to acquire U.S. wares.
Yet social media app TikTok, which government officials have repeatedly voiced national security concerns over, hasn’t been hit with trade curbs.
TikTok parent ByteDance is based in China and has eluded that list, largely because the Commerce Department’s tools affect hard goods, not software.
Meanwhile, negotiations between U.S. regulators and TikTok over a security deal have dragged on for years.