As TikTok’s April fifth sell-by date approaches, Americans are again to the place they stood earlier than the unique January deadline: watching anxiously to see if a significant social media app will get banned. But that’s removed from the one huge occasion we’ll see over the approaching month. April is full of momentous turns in long-running tech coverage tales — some presumably industry-changing, others susceptible to petering out.
The first two and a half months of President Donald Trump’s second time period have been extremely consequential for the tech {industry}, which faces actual challenges regardless of largely cozying as much as Trump. After the chaos of the fired FTC commissioners, DOGE’s dismantling of the federal authorities, and continuously delayed tariffs, the subsequent few weeks could possibly be terribly busy, too. Deadlines that Trump let slip are arising, as are long-planned ones, resembling these masking TikTok, new tariffs, and a pair of juggernaut antitrust circumstances involving Apple and Meta.
Here’s all the things it is advisable to know to be ready.
Trump stated he deliberately selected April 2nd over April Fools’ Day as a result of he’s “just a little superstitious,” but it surely’s nonetheless smart to anticipate the surprising for taxes on imported items. The official order he launched final week clarifies a 25 % tariff on vehicle imports will take impact at 12:01AM ET on April third. He’s additionally threatened to implement:
- A 25 % tariff on items from international locations that import Venezuelan oil
- A 200 % reciprocal tariff on European wine and alcohol
- A 25 % tariff on items imported from Canada or Mexico (following a one-month delay)
- A not-yet specified tariff on agricultural imports
- Reciprocal tariffs that will likely be revealed on April 2nd
Trump’s tariffs have fluctuated and stalled amid blowback and discussions with international leaders, however the early April deadline for automobile imports to the US has held up to now. Trump has promised a everlasting 25 % tariff on automobiles and vans which might be imported into the nation, whereas the reciprocal tariffs are supposed to alleviate what his administration views as imbalances with commerce companions.
The auto tariff is anticipated to use to each international producers and American automotive firms that manufacture autos overseas and import them to the US. Experts anticipate the associated fee will finally elevate costs for US customers shopping for new automobiles.
April fifth: TikTok ban… or extension
TikTok remains to be legally required to divest from its father or mother firm ByteDance, and as with its authentic January deadline, it’s operating out the clock earlier than a ban kicks in.
Trump signed an government order delaying the ban on his first day in workplace, promising to not implement the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in opposition to TikTok service suppliers — together with firms like Oracle, Akamai, Fastly, Amazon Web Services, Apple, and Google — for 75 days. That order was already legally questionable, provided that the legislation requiring TikTok’s Chinese proprietor to divest it to function within the US already took impact and was upheld by the Supreme Court. Apple and Google held off on returning TikTok to their app shops till Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly despatched them a letter assuring they’d be immune from authorized penalties underneath the Trump administration in the event that they did.
Trump has promised a TikTok sale settlement earlier than the deadline, however the particulars stay obscure. It’s nonetheless fairly potential that he’ll merely prolong the arbitrary deadline once more, trying to maintain the established order whereas supposedly hammering out the deal. But as Senate Democrats have warned, repeated legally dodgy extensions depart TikTok’s service suppliers more and more weak — the statute of limitations on the legislation extends previous Trump’s time period, they usually danger a whole lot of billions of {dollars} in fines for defying the act. Apple, AWS, Google, Akamai, Fastly, and Oracle didn’t reply to requests for remark.
“ByteDance should absolutely divest its management of TikTok and don’t have any say in its operations; nor can the 2 share information, content material, or algorithms”
Alternatively, Trump might current the small print of a deal (nonetheless obscure) by the deadline. Multiple contenders have thrown their hat within the ring to take TikTok off ByteDance’s palms, together with billionaire Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty and Perplexity.
Oracle is reportedly in a number one place for a partnership with TikTok to make sure that US consumer information can’t be accessed by the Chinese authorities — however the reported particulars sound an entire lot like Project Texas, which US officers beforehand dismissed as too porous to guard US nationwide safety. It’s not clear this could meet the authorized necessities for divestiture, and even the highest Republican on the House Select Committee on China has warned that “ByteDance should absolutely divest its management of TikTok and don’t have any say in its operations; nor can the 2 share information, content material, or algorithms.” There’s additionally the matter of whether or not the Chinese authorities will conform to let any model of a sale occur.
Essentially, based mostly on the choices presently on the desk, we’re most likely about to see the beginning of yet one more authorized battle round TikTok.
April 14th: FTC v. Meta begins
The FTC filed its antimonopoly go well with in opposition to Meta again in late 2020, when it was nonetheless often called Facebook, and the 2 sides will lastly meet in courtroom on April 14th to kick off the trial.
For a number of weeks, Judge James Boasberg will hear testimony on whether or not Meta illegally monopolized the private social networking market, partially by its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, which the FTC alleges may have been formidable opponents. If he agrees with the federal government that Meta broke the legislation, either side will return later to determine what must be completed about it — together with, doubtlessly, unwinding the acquisitions.
It’s been a rocky case for the FTC, all the way in which again to Trump’s first time period, when the unique lawsuit was filed with help from two minority Democratic commissioners and the Republican company chair. That first grievance — alongside a separate lawsuit filed by 48 state and district attorneys normal — was thrown out by the choose.
But Boasberg left the choice for the FTC to attempt once more. The company filed an amended grievance through the Biden administration underneath Democratic chair Lina Khan, looking for to resolve considerations with the preliminary grievance. The end result was ample to maneuver the lawsuit ahead; in November 2024, after Boasberg largely denied Meta’s movement to dismiss, he resolved that the case would transfer to trial. Now, that trial will start with the FTC again underneath Republican management.
April twenty second: Google Search cures trial begins
Also in DC’s District Court, the second section of the Google Search monopoly trial begins subsequent month. Judge Amit Mehta dominated final summer season that Google has illegally monopolized the net normal search market, in addition to the marketplace for search textual content advertisements. Now, Google and the Justice Department will spend two weeks debating what modifications the choose ought to impose to treatment the hurt created by the unlawful monopolization (a characterization Google intends to attraction).
At the top of the Biden administration, the DOJ stated that acceptable cures would come with forcing Google to spin out its Chrome browser — a key entry level for engines like google — syndicate the information that makes its search outcomes so highly effective, and ban exclusionary offers like its multibillion greenback settlement with Apple. After the Trump administration took over, the DOJ maintained lots of the similar asks, although it modified a number of, together with letting Google pay Apple for non-search-related agreements. Mehta has stated he goals to subject a call by this August.
Apple just isn’t a celebration to the case, but it surely has fought to play an even bigger function within the cures section as a result of it fears its pursuits won’t be sufficiently represented by Google. But an appeals courtroom agreed with Mehta that Apple must accept submitting briefs to clarify its viewpoint, slightly than taking a extra energetic function within the trial.
