Cover Story: The Countdown Begins: TikTok Navigates Uncertain Future Amid U.S. Ban Bill

Just six months ago, TikTok, the short-video app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., was charging headlong into the U.S. e-commerce market. From September through December, nearly $1.2 billion of goods were sold on the platform used by 170 million Americans. This year, the app aims to generate as much as $20 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in the world’s biggest consumer market.