As TikTok’s April fifth sell-by date approaches, Individuals are again to the place they stood earlier than the unique January deadline: watching anxiously to see if a serious social media app will get banned. However 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 probably industry-changing, others liable to tapering off.
The primary 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 continually delayed tariffs, the following few weeks might be terribly busy, too. Deadlines that Trump let slip are arising, as are long-planned ones, comparable to these overlaying TikTok, new tariffs, and a pair of juggernaut antitrust instances involving Apple and Meta.
Right here’s every part you could know to be ready.
Trump stated he deliberately selected April 2nd over April Fools’ Day as a result of he’s “slightly superstitious,” nevertheless it’s nonetheless sensible to count on the surprising for taxes on imported items. The official order he launched final week clarifies a 25 p.c tariff on vehicle imports will take impact at 12:01AM ET on April third. He’s additionally threatened to implement:
- A 25 p.c tariff on items from nations that import Venezuelan oil
- A 200 p.c reciprocal tariff on European wine and alcohol
- A 25 p.c 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 overseas leaders, however the early April deadline for automobile imports to the US has held to date. Trump has promised a everlasting 25 p.c tariff on vehicles and vans which are 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 predicted to use to each overseas producers and American automobile corporations that manufacture automobiles overseas and import them to the US. Specialists anticipate the associated fee will finally elevate costs for US shoppers shopping for new vehicles.
April fifth: TikTok ban… or extension
TikTok continues 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 govt order delaying the ban on his first day in workplace, promising to not implement the Defending Individuals from International Adversary Managed Purposes Act towards TikTok service suppliers — together with corporations like Oracle, Akamai, Fastly, Amazon Net Providers, Apple, and Google — for 75 days. That order was already legally questionable, provided that the legislation requiring TikTok’s Chinese language proprietor to divest it to function within the US already took impact and was upheld by the Supreme Courtroom. Apple and Google held off on returning TikTok to their app shops till Lawyer Basic 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 imprecise. 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. However as Senate Democrats have warned, repeated legally dodgy extensions go away 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 bunch 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 totally divest its management of TikTok and don’t have any say in its operations; nor can the 2 share knowledge, content material, or algorithms”
Alternatively, Trump might current the small print of a deal (nonetheless imprecise) by the deadline. A number of contenders have thrown their hat within the ring to take TikTok off ByteDance’s arms, together with billionaire Frank McCourt’s Challenge Liberty and Perplexity.
Oracle is reportedly in a number one place for a partnership with TikTok to make sure that US person knowledge can’t be accessed by the Chinese language authorities — however the reported particulars sound a complete lot like Challenge Texas, which US officers beforehand dismissed as too porous to guard US nationwide safety. It’s not clear this is able to meet the authorized necessities for divestiture, and even the highest Republican on the Home Choose Committee on China has warned that “ByteDance should totally divest its management of TikTok and don’t have any say in its operations; nor can the 2 share knowledge, content material, or algorithms.” There’s additionally the matter of whether or not the Chinese language authorities will comply with let any model of a sale occur.
Basically, primarily based on the choices presently on the desk, we’re in all probability about to see the beginning of one more authorized battle round TikTok.
April 14th: FTC v. Meta begins
The FTC filed its antimonopoly swimsuit towards Meta again in late 2020, when it was nonetheless often called Fb, and the 2 sides will lastly meet in court docket on April 14th to kick off the trial.
For a number of weeks, Decide James Boasberg will hear testimony on whether or not Meta illegally monopolized the non-public social networking market, partially via its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, which the FTC alleges might have been formidable rivals. If he agrees with the federal government that Meta broke the legislation, either side will return later to determine what ought to be achieved about it — together with, probably, 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 assist from two minority Democratic commissioners and the Republican company chair. That first criticism — alongside a separate lawsuit filed by 48 state and district attorneys normal — was thrown out by the choose.
However Boasberg left the choice for the FTC to strive once more. The company filed an amended criticism throughout the Biden administration underneath Democratic chair Lina Khan, looking for to resolve considerations with the preliminary criticism. The consequence was enough 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 treatments trial begins
Additionally in DC’s District Courtroom, the second part of the Google Search monopoly trial begins subsequent month. Decide Amit Mehta dominated final summer season that Google has illegally monopolized the web normal search market, in addition to the marketplace for search textual content adverts. Now, Google and the Justice Division 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).
On the finish of the Biden administration, the DOJ stated that acceptable treatments 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 identical asks, although it modified just a few, together with letting Google pay Apple for non-search-related agreements. Mehta has stated he goals to problem a call by this August.
Apple is just not a celebration to the case, nevertheless it has fought to play a much bigger function within the treatments part as a result of it fears its pursuits may not be sufficiently represented by Google. However an appeals court docket agreed with Mehta that Apple should accept submitting briefs to clarify its viewpoint, slightly than taking a extra lively function within the trial.
