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V2X acquires QinetiQ’s US intelligence biz

Reston-based Fortune 1000 aerospace and defense contractor acquired ‘s U.S. intelligence business, the former announced Monday.

V2X expects the transaction value to be approximately $24 million after estimated tax benefits. Parent company QinetiQ Group said in a news release announcing the agreement in August that the sale of its U.S. federal IT services business to V2X had an enterprise value of $31 million.

The sale of the U.S. intelligence business is part of QinetiQ Group’s U.S. restructuring program, according to an August news release from the company.

“This enhances our position in the intelligence community and strengthens our ability to deliver data-enabled mission solutions across all domains,” V2X President and CEO Jeremy C. Wensinger said in a statement.

QinetiQ’s U.S. intelligence business provides data engineering, intelligence mission support and cyber solutions to the intelligence community. Approximately 70 employees will join V2X.

The business’ integration into V2X’s national security portfolio is underway and “will continue over the coming months,” according to a V2X news release.

Formed by the $2.1 billion merger of Vertex and Vectrus in 2022, V2X has about 16,000 employees. V2X serves national security, civilian, defense and international clients with solutions related to logistics, operations, and aerospace.

The U.S. arm of United Kingdom-based security and defense contractor QinetiQ Group is based in McLean.

RTX subsidiary hit by major cyberattack

SUMMARY:

  • hit subsidiary ‘s MUSE check-in system, disrupting airports across Europe
  • European Union Agency for did not identify attackers
  • Fallout included canceled flights and lingering disruptions

A major ransomware attack against Collins Aerospace — a subsidiary of County-based aerospace and defense contractor RTX — disrupted check-in and boarding systems at several airports across Europe over the weekend, with disruptions continuing until Monday, forcing delays cancellations of flights.

The disruptions to electronic systems meant that only manual check-in and boarding was possible. Airports said the issue centered around a provider of check-in and boarding systems — not airlines or the airports themselves.

Collins Aerospace, whose systems help passengers check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage from a kiosk, cited a “cyber-related disruption” to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at “select airports.” The New York Times reports that the Muse software is used by about 300 airlines at 100 airports.

According to the New York Times report, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity said on Monday that the disruption had been caused by a ransomware attack. However, it is still unclear who was behind the attack. An organization spokesperson did not have more details.

Experts said it could turn out to be hackers, criminal organizations or state actors.

Fallout from the cyberattack has extended for days, as passengers faced dozens of canceled and delayed flights — and the impact poised to worsen for at least one major airport.

Starting late Friday, airports in Berlin, Brussels and London were hit by disruptions to electronic systems that snarled up check-in and sent airline staffers trying options like handwriting boarding passes or using backup laptops. Many other European airports were unaffected.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation European Union, said that aviation safety and air traffic control were unaffected. There was currently no indication of a widespread or severe attack, while the origin of the incident remained under investigation, it added.

While departure boards for London’s Heathrow and Berlin’s Brandenburg airports were showing signs of smoother arrivals and departures on Sunday, Brussels Airport was still facing considerable issues.

The New York Times reported that Brussels Airport, seemingly the hardest hit, had at least 40 of 277 departing flights scheduled for Monday canceled in Brussels, as well as 23 of 277 arriving flights.

RTX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Saturday, RTX said in a statement that it was working to resolve the issue: “The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations.”

Brussels Airport said was able to maintain 85% of scheduled departures over the weekend thanks to the deployment of extra staff by airport partners “and the fact that self bag drop and online check-in are still operational.”

The cyberattack affected only computer systems at check-in desks, not self-service kiosks, airport spokesperson Ihsane Chioua Lekhli said, and teams were turning to alternative backup systems and pulling out laptop computers to help cope with the impact.

The airports advised passengers to check the status of their flights before traveling to the airports, and using alternative check-in methods.

A rolling message Sunday on the Brandenburg Airport’s web page said: “Due to a systems outage at a service provider, there are longer waiting times. Please use online check-in, self-service check-in and the fast bag drop service.”

RTX has more than 185,000 employees globally and reported more than $80.73 billion in 2024 sales. The contractor is Virginia’s second-highest ranked company by revenue on the 2025 Fortune 500.

Virginia Business Associate Editor Josh Janney contributed to this report.

Pfizer to buy Metsera in $5B obesity drug deal

Summary

  • to acquire for nearly $5B cash
  • Deal adds pipeline of obesity treatments in trials
  • Metsera has four programs in clinical development
  • expected to close in Q4 pending approval

Five months after ending development of its own obesity treatment, Pfizer is accelerating its push into the rapidly growing field with a nearly $5 billion acquisition.

The COVID-19 vaccine and treatment maker said Monday that it will pay $47.50 in cash for each share of development-stage drugmaker Metsera. That represents a premium of more than 42% to Metsera’s closing price Friday.

Pfizer also could pay an additional $22.50 per share depending on how Metsera’s product pipeline develops.

Metsera Inc. has no products on the market, but its pipeline includes four programs in clinical development and one in mid-stage testing. Pfizer said the deal will add expertise and potential oral and injectable treatments.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla noted in a statement from the drugmaker that there are more than 200 health conditions associated with obesity, which he called “a large and growing space.”

Demand for obesity treatments has soared in recent years, due to unprecedented weight loss provided by regular injections of market leaders from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Co.’s . The Lilly drug generated $5.7 billion in sales in the first half of the year.

But the drugs can cost patients hundreds of dollars a month, and experts in the field are looking for competition to potentially drive down prices.

Pfizer currently has no obesity treatments on the market but has some in clinical development. Earlier this year, the company said it was ending development of a potential once-daily pill treatment before it started late-stage testing, the biggest and most expensive phase of clinical development.

Pfizer said the boards of both New York-based companies have approved the deal, but Metsera shareholders still need to OK it. The companies expect the acquisition to close in this year’s fourth quarter. It still needs approval from regulators.

Shares of Pfizer Inc. climbed 38 cents to $24.40 before markets opened Monday while Metsera’s stock advanced about 61%.

Google faces antitrust déjà vu as US seeks to break up its digital advertising business

Summary

  • DOJ pushes breakup of ‘s digital ad system
  • Trial follows failed DOJ case over search monopoly
  • Evidence focuses on abusive advertising tactics
  • Remedy trial outcome could reshape Google’s empire

After deflecting the U.S. Justice Department’s attack on its illegal monopoly in online search, Google is facing another attempt to dismantle its internet empire in a trial focused on its abusive tactics in .

The trial scheduled to begin Monday in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal court will revolve around the harmful conduct that resulted in U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema declaring parts of Google’s digital advertising technology to be an illegal monopoly. The judge found that Google has been engaging in behavior that stifles competition to the detriment of online publishers that depend on the system for revenue.

Google and the Justice Department will spend the next two weeks in court presenting evidence in a “remedy” trial that will culminate in Brinkema issuing a ruling on how to restore fair market conditions.

Although the judge hasn’t set a timetable for making that decision, it’s unlikely to come down before the end of this year because additional legal briefs and courtroom arguments are expected to extend into November before Brinkema takes the matter under submission.

No matter how the judge rules, Google says it will appeal the earlier decision labeling the ad network as a monopoly. Appeals can’t be filed until the remedy is determined.

The case, filed in 2023 under President Joe Biden’s administration, threatens the complex network that Google has spent the past 17 years building to power its dominant digital advertising business. Besides accounting for most of the $305 billion in revenue that Google’s services division generates for its corporate parent Alphabet Inc., digital advertising sales provide the lifeblood that keeps thousands of websites alive.

If the Justice Department gets its way, Brinkema will order Google to sell parts of its ad technology — a proposal that the company’s lawyers warned would “invite disruption and damage” to consumers and the internet’s ecosystem. The Justice Department contends a breakup would be the most effective and quickest way to undercut a monopoly that has been stifling competition and innovation for years.

Google believes it has already made enough changes to its “Ad Manager” system, including providing more options and pricing options, to resolve the issues the Brinkema flagged in her monopoly ruling.,

The legal battle over Google’s advertising technology mirrors another showdown that the company recently navigated after another federal judge condemned its dominant search engine as an illegal monopoly and then held remedy hearings earlier this year to consider how to stop the misconduct.

In that case, the Justice Department also proposed a severe crackdown that would have required Google to sell its popular Chrome browser, but U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta decided a less dramatic shake-up was needed amid a search market being reshaped by artificial intelligence technology in a decision issued earlier this month.

Even though Google didn’t agree with all aspects of Mehta’s decision, the ruling was widely seen as a slap on the wrist — a sentiment that has helped propel Alphabet’s stock price to new highs. The 20% gain since Mehta’s decision helped make Alphabet only the fourth publicly traded company to reach a market value of $3 trillion — an increase of more than $1 trillion since Brinkema branded Google’s ad technology as a monopoly in April.

In an indication that the outcome of the search monopoly case might sway things in the advertising technology proceedings, Brinkema asked both Google and the Justice Department to address Mehta’s decision during the upcoming trial.

As they did in the search case, Google’s lawyers already have been asserting in court papers that AI technology being used by ad network rivals like Meta Platforms is reshaping the way the market works and overriding the need for the Justice Department’s “radical” proposals.

The Justice Department is “fighting for a remedy that would vanquish a past that has been overtaken by technological and market transformations in the way digital ads are consumed,” Google’s lawyers argued leading up to the trial.

VCU launches $1.8B fundraising campaign

Virginia Commonwealth University and have launched the public phase of a $1.838 billion campaign — the largest fundraising effort ever undertaken by the university and its health system.

The effort, called Unlocking Potential: ‘s Campaign for the Future, was announced Thursday at a kickoff event at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

“Unlocking Potential is more than a campaign — it’s a bold investment in people, research, health care and community,” said Jay E. Davenport, vice president of development and alumni relations, in a statement. “With the support of our benefactors, we will break down barriers, open doors to opportunity and shape brighter futures through transformative education, pioneering discoveries and world-class care.”

In an announcement, VCU said campaign gifts will help the university provide better access to education, fund innovation and research, support faculty and help the university sustain “institutional excellence.”

The university says it kicked off the leadership phase of the campaign on July 1, 2020, during a quiet phase when it raised $1.138 billion. The public portion of the campaign will run through June 30, 2030.

“As an alum, I know firsthand the difference VCU makes in people’s lives,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, campaign tri-chair and president and CEO of Joint Commission and Joint Commission International. “Serving as tri-chair of this campaign cabinet is my way of giving back and helping ensure that future generations of students, patients and communities can benefit from all that VCU has to offer. It’s an honor to help lead an effort that will create lasting impact.”

During the campaign, VCU also wants to encourage alumni and community involvement with the university and the health system.

The campaign is led by three tri-chair couples: VCU alum and best-selling novelist David Baldacci and his wife Michelle Baldacci, who both founded the nonprofit Wish You Well Foundation; VCU alum and Goodwill of North Georgia President and CEO Keith Parker and his wife Dawn; and Joint Commission President and CEO Jonathan Perlin and his wife Donna, both of whom are VCU alums.

VCU has more than 28,000 students across more than 220 degree and certificate programs. Based in Richmond, VCU Health has more than 800 physicians. It reported $3.54 billion in revenue for the 2023-2024 year, with net income of $442.5 million.

Chesterfield approves fusion power plant permit

Commonwealth Fusion Systems received the zoning approval needed for its planned facility that’s expected to be the world’s first grid-scale commercial power plant.

The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved on Wednesday a conditional-use permit for a fusion facility at a 94-acre site in the James River Industrial Center.

The Massachusetts-based fusion  company announced in December 2024 its plans to build the 400-megawatt facility, dubbed ARC, in Chesterfield. The power plant will likely cost more than $2.5 billion, according to Chesterfield’s economic development director, Garrett Hart.

filed its application for a conditional-use permit with the county in May, and the county’s planning commission unanimously recommended approving the permit in August.

The final site design, however, is ongoing, said Ann Neil Cosby, a land-use attorney representing CFS, and will still have to be submitted for review in the county’s site plan process.

CFS plans to begin construction in the late 2020s and expects ARC to begin generating carbon-free power for the grid in the early 2030s.

The site is expected to have a power building, ancillary industrial buildings — an administration building, a maintenance facility, above-ground structures like tower and storage tanks, and an overhead power line and switchyard to interconnect to facilities — as well as parking and landscaping.

ARC will connect to Dominion’s facilities to the south of the plant via power lines, Cosby said in the board of supervisors meeting.

The project will be located at 1201 Battery Brooke Parkway in the James River Industrial Center, a site owned by Dominion Energy. CFS has signed an option-to-lease agreement for the site, according to CFS spokesperson Christine Dunn.

signed an agreement, announced in the summer, to buy electricity from CFS’ Chesterfield facility, making it CFS’ first customer. The tech giant, which has been an investor in the nuclear fusion company since 2021, was also increasing its stake in CFS, although the companies did not disclose financial terms.

In late August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Google plans to invest an additional $9 billion in Virginia through the end of 2026, with much of that funding going toward the development of a new data center in Chesterfield, near Meadowville Technology Park.

Spun out of MIT in 2018, CFS is one of more than 40 companies currently pursuing fusion technologies and says it is the largest private fusion company in the world. In addition to Google, its high-profile investors include Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Tiger Global Management, Khosla Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. CFS announced in late August it had raised $863 million in a Series B2 funding round, bringing its total funding raised close to $3 billion.

The company is building a fusion demonstration machine, nicknamed SPARC, at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. CFS began assembling the machine’s tokamak — a fusion device that uses electromagnets to create the right conditions for — in March.

ARC will use magnetic fields for the fusion process. In the process, two forms of hydrogen — deuterium and tritium — fuse, creating helium and releasing neutrons. A “molten salt liquid ‘blanket’ surrounding the plasma will capture the energy of the neutrons in the form of heat,” according to CFS’ zoning application. The molten salt then circulates through heat exchangers — systems that transfer heat between fluids — to produce steam, which turns a turbine connected to an electricity generator.

During the public comment period of Wednesday’s meeting, two residents spoke in opposition, citing concerns about fusion technology’s feasibility and what would happen to the site if the technology isn’t developed. Three other speakers, though, including the president and CEO of the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of the facility.

The second speaker, Jerry Turner, mentioned concerns about how much water from the county the facility could require for cooling.

A supervisor later posed that question to Benjamin Byboth, CFS’ director of business development and strategy, who said ARC would require 400,000 gallons of water a day.

Karen Webb, the Chesterfield chamber’s president and CEO, said Wednesday: “The chamber supports CFS and their decision to develop the ARC fusion power plant in Chesterfield County. This project reflects innovation, community partnerships, business partnerships and a cleaner future for us all, so we do say, ‘Yes, we support it.’”

The only downside to approving the facility, said Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Ingle, whose district includes the ARC site, is, “We went out and told the world we’re going to do it first. If it doesn’t happen here first, we get a little egg on our face.

“But when it’s done, and it works, doesn’t matter if we’re first or second or third,” he added. “It matters that we have an energy source that brings the source of the energy of the stars to the Earth. That’s pretty powerful.”

Virginia Realtors names 2026 president

Glen Allen-based , which bills itself as the state’s largest trade association, announced Friday that it has named broker Curt Reichstetter as its 2026 President.

He was installed as president-elect on Wednesday night in downtown Richmond. On Dec. 1, he will succeed current Virginia Realtors President Lorraine Arora.

Virginia Realtors represents nearly 35,000 Realtors and sends out monthly home sales tracking reports for the state.

“I am honored to step into the role of Virginia Realtors president,” Reichstetter said in a statement. “In 2026, our association will push for smart, practical solutions that help cut red tape and open doors to new housing opportunities — because when families can find homes they can afford, our communities and economy grow stronger.”

Reichstetter has more than 30 years of experience in residential and commercial and has held numerous leadership roles at local, state and national levels. He was previously Virginia Realtors’ vice president in 2024, treasurer in 2023 and has been a member of the state board of directors since 2018.

He also served as president of the Richmond Association of Realtors in 2019. He represents Virginia at the national level on the Realtors Political Action Committee’s participation committee.

He and his wife, Heather, own and operate Two Dog Realty Group, a real estate brokerage in Richmond.

In addition to Reichstetter, the association’s 2026 leadership team will include Arora as immediate past president, Sherry Maser of Chesapeake as president-elect, Diron Clements from Danville as vice president and Chandra Patterson of Newport News as treasurer.

Carnival, Norwegian cruise lines to boost Norfolk calls

Norfolk will soon see a major boost in cruising activity, with ‘s popular ship Carnival Freedom homeporting there in 2027 and ‘s Norwegian Pearl making 20 calls that same year.

Carnival Cruise announced the news on Wednesday while unveiling its 2027/2028 lineup. The 100,000-ton Carnival Freedom will reposition from Port Canaveral to in May 2027, establishing a new homeport. Carnival Freedom, a newer ship, will replace Carnival Sunshine for service in Norfolk. The Carnival Sunshine has been operating weekly, year-round sailings from Norfolk since February.

Cruise Norfolk, operated by Nauticus, said Carnival Freedom is “launching the most diverse and expansive cruise program ever offered from Norfolk.” Carnival Freedom will arrive in Norfolk on May 23, 2027. From there, its itineraries will include cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Eastern Caribbean and Canada.

Carnival Freedom is a Conquest-class ship that offers a wide variety of dining venues, a WaterWorks waterpark and the RedFrog Pub. The boat can accommodate more than 3,000 guests.

Norfolk officials believe that the Carnival Freedom will bring renewed passenger enthusiasm and boost the region’s economy through increased spending at hotels, restaurants, attractions and local businesses.

“Carnival’s commitment to Norfolk brings more travel options for our passengers, draws visitors from across the East Coast, and strengthens our position as a key player in the cruise market,” Nauticus Executive Director Stephen E. Kirkland said in a news release. “This homeport expansion is a win for our city, our guests, and our economy.”

In other news, Norfolk’s Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center, operated by Nauticus, also announced an expanded slate of cruise ship port calls from the world’s fourth-largest cruise company, Norwegian Cruise Line. In 2027, the 2,400-passenger Norwegian Pearl is scheduled to call on Norfolk each week from April to August, 20 visits in total. Nauticus says these visits will introduce approximately 49,000 additional cruise ship passengers to the Hampton Roads region.

Cruise Norfolk manages the in downtown Norfolk, welcoming more than 300,000 cruise passengers annually.

Wall Street edges higher as markets eye record week

Summary

  • and futures rose 0.1% early Friday
  • Dow futures flat as markets aim for another record week
  • surged on strong Q1 earnings before trimming gains
  • stock fell 2.5% after reporting lower revenue

NEW YORK (AP) — is coasting toward the finish of its latest record-setting week on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and was on track to close out its sixth winning week in the last seven. The Industrial Average was up 129 points, or 0.3%, as of 1:01 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

All three hit all-time highs the day before, as did the small stocks in the Russell 2000 index, which finally surpassed its prior record set in 2021. Stocks have been rallying on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after it lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.

FedEx helped support the market after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 3.2%, thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.

Newmont rose 4.1% after the gold miner sold its investment in Canada’s Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and Newmont’s stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of gold has shot to records.

Gold has benefited from expectations for lower interest rates, along with worries about high inflation and the potential that mountains of debt for the U.S. and other governments could make their currencies worth less.

Lennar dropped 3.9% after the homebuilder reported weaker revenue for its latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit topped forecasts. Executive Chairman Stuart Miller pointed to “the continued pressures of today’s housing market” and said Lennar had to offer additional incentives to entice customers to buy homes, which dragged down the average sales price.

Easier interest rates could give the struggling housing market a boost, and mortgage rates have already come down in expectation of a rate-cutting campaign by the Fed.

Lower rates could also tamp down widespread criticism that the broad U.S. has become too expensive after prices rose so quickly. But expectations have grown so strong for coming cuts to rates that the stock market may be set for a sharp drop if the Fed does not cut as much as expected.

Fed officials did indicate earlier this week that more cuts to rates may be on the way this year and next. They’re hoping to give support to the job market, which has slowed and made it more difficult for U.S. workers to find new positions.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned Wednesday that the central bank is in a precarious position and may have to change course quickly. That’s because the economy is in an unusual situation where inflation is remaining stubbornly high at the same time that the job market is slowing. And President Donald ‘s are threatening to push inflation higher, at least temporarily.

The Fed is in charge of fixing both high inflation and a weak job market, but it has only one tool to do so. And helping one by moving interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, warns that the stock market could become shakier following its recent glide to records as “the economy slows, tariff impacts arrive piecemeal and political uncertainties continue.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% after the Bank of Japan said it will sell some of its massive trove of Japanese stock funds. It also held interest rates steady.

Chinese indexes finished mixed ahead of a phone call between Trump and China’s President  that the U.S. president said afterward was productive. The leaders of the world’s two largest economies agreed to meet at a regional summit to take place at the end of October in South Korea.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively stable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.13% from 4.11% late Thursday.

___

This story has been corrected to show the S&P 500 is on track for its sixth winning week in the last seven, not its ninth in the last 10.

UPDATES: trading.

Trump, Xi discuss TikTok deal and easing US-China trade war

Summary

  • , in talks to finalize deal
  • Agreement could allow TikTok to keep operating in U.S.
  • Call may set stage for Trump-Xi in-person meeting
  • Trade tensions ease but , export controls unresolved

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is talking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the popular app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.

The call between the two leaders began around 8 a.m. Washington time, according to a White House official and China’s Xinhua News Agency.

The call may offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet in person to hash out a final agreement to end their trade war and provide clarity on where relations between the world’s two superpowers may be headed.

This would be the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House and launched sky-high tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth trade restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies. But Trump, a Republican, has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with Beijing, notably for the social video platform that faces a U.S. ban unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake.

Another call for Trump and Xi over trade tensions

The two men also spoke in June to defuse tensions over China’s restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, used in everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

“I’m speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok and also trade,” Trump said Thursday. “And we’re very close to deals on all of it.”

He said his relationship with China is “very good” but noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine could end if European countries put higher tariffs on China. Trump didn’t say if he planned to raise tariffs on Beijing over its purchase of Moscow’s oil, as he has done with India.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday didn’t confirm any upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu said “heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.”

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, predicted a positive discussion.

“Both sides have strong desire for the leadership summit to happen, while the details lie in the trade deal and what can be achieved for both sides from the summit,” Sun said.

Efforts to finalize the TikTok deal

Following a U.S.-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sides reached a framework deal on TikTok’s ownership but Trump and Xi likely would finalize it Friday.

Trump, who has credited the app with helping him win another term, has extended a deadline several times for the app to be spun off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. It is a requirement to allow TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. under a law passed last year seeking to address data privacy and national security concerns.

Trump said TikTok “has tremendous value” and the U.S. “has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”

U.S. officials have been concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on TikTok.

Chinese officials said Monday that a consensus was reached on authorization of the “use of intellectual property rights,” including the algorithm, and that the two sides agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and content security.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, says TikTok’s data and algorithm must be “truly in American hands” to comply with the law.

More trade issues on the table

Top U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of  between May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. Both sides have paused sky-high tariffs and pulled back from harsh export controls, but many issues remain unresolved.

Trump in the call “will likely seek to make it appear that the United States has the upper hand in trade negotiations,” said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser on U.S.-China issues at the International Crisis Group.

Xi “will likely seek to underscore China’s economic leverage and warn that continued progress in bilateral relations will hinge on an easing of U.S. tariffs, sanctions and export controls,” Wyne said.

No deals have been announced on tech export restrictions, Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products or fentanyl. The Trump administration has imposed additional 20% tariffs on Chinese goods linked to allegations that Beijing has failed to stem the flow to the U.S. of the chemicals used to make opioids.

Trump’s second-term trade war with Beijing has cost U.S. farmers one of their top markets. From January through July, American farm exports to China fell 53% compared with the same period last year. The damage was even greater in some commodities: U.S. sorghum sales to China, for instance, were down 97%.

Josh Gackle, chairman of the American Soybean Association, said he would be following the outcome of Friday’s call because China, the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. beans, has paused purchases for this year’s new crop.

“There’s still time. It’s encouraging that the two countries continue to talk,” Gackle said. “I think there’s frustration growing at the farmer level that they haven’t been able to reach a deal yet.”