UK Businesses to be Impacted By Potential US TikTok Ban

Online traders are warning that a TikTok ban in the US could have a “potentially devastating” impact on some UK businesses.

President Biden has signed into law a bill that gives TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake in the app or it will be blocked in the US.

TikTok has said it will challenge this in court.

According to TikTok, some 1.5 million UK businesses operate on the app.

Founder of Perl Cosmetics in London, Isobel Perl, is worried about the possible impact of a ban as a quarter of her sales now come from the US.

Founder of Franks Remedies, Kyle Frank, also sells skincare products on TikTok.

He’s worked hard to grow his customer base on the app and America is now a big market for him.

He told the BBC World Service’s Marketplace programme, that a ban would really hurt his business.

And, Jenny Bailey from Merseyside runs Calla Shoes, a footwear brand that specialises in shoes for women with bunions.

She says whenever she sees a big surge in traffic from TikTok, a lot of those customers are from the US.

It could take several years before the app is blocked as legal action, likely all the way to the Supreme Court, would delay the process.