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Biden’s Reelection Campaign Joins TikTok in Push for Young Voters 

The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP)
The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP)
TT
TT

Biden’s Reelection Campaign Joins TikTok in Push for Young Voters 

The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP)
The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP)

US President Joe Biden's reelection campaign joined short-form video app TikTok on Sunday, using the NFL's Super Bowl to kick off its new account to reach young voters ahead of the presidential election in November.

The campaign's launch on TikTok is notable given that the app, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is under review in the US for potential national security concerns. Some US lawmakers have long called for the app to be banned over concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app.

Last year, the Biden administration ordered government agencies to remove TikTok from federal government-owned phones and devices.

TikTok has maintained that it would not share US user data with the Chinese government and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy of its users.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Biden campaign advisors said in a statement it would "continue meeting voters where they are," including on other social media apps like Meta Platform's Instagram and Truth Social, which is owned by former US President Donald Trump.

The campaign is taking "advanced safety precautions" for its devices and its presence on TikTok was separate from the app's ongoing security review, a campaign official added.

Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, does not have an official account on TikTok.

The video posted by the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account made light of a fringe conservative conspiracy theory that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs, in order for pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to announce an endorsement of Biden.

Amid rapid-fire questions asking the president to choose from one of two options, Biden was asked if he was "deviously plotting to rig the season so the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl" or whether the Chiefs were simply just a good football team.

"I'd get in trouble if I told you," Biden joked.

By Sunday night, the account had gained 10,900 followers.

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Technology

Volvo Cars May Move Some Production to US over Trump Tariffs

Volvo's new electric car ES90 is displayed at an event at Artipelag outside Stockholm, Sweden, March 5, 2025. TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via REUTERS
Volvo's new electric car ES90 is displayed at an event at Artipelag outside Stockholm, Sweden, March 5, 2025. TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via REUTERS
TT
TT

Volvo Cars May Move Some Production to US over Trump Tariffs

Volvo's new electric car ES90 is displayed at an event at Artipelag outside Stockholm, Sweden, March 5, 2025. TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via REUTERS
Volvo's new electric car ES90 is displayed at an event at Artipelag outside Stockholm, Sweden, March 5, 2025. TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via REUTERS

Volvo Cars may move production of some of its models to the US depending on tariffs, but aims to stick to a plan to export its European-made EX30 SUV model to the United States later this year, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.

Volvo Cars last year moved production of its EX30 electric vehicles from China to Europe to avoid European Union tariffs.

President Donald Trump's threats of a fresh round of tariffs could require further adaptation.

The EX30 SUV should start production in Europe this quarter and Volvo aims to increase production to serve both the European and US markets in the second half of 2025, CEO Jim Rowan told Reuters.

Exports of cars from Europe to the US are only subject to a 2.5% tariff for now, but that is likely to change.

"It's looking like that number is going to go up... if it's 10% each way, we can cope with that, but if it goes to 25% it's a hell of a lot more difficult from a profit perspective," Rowan said.

Volvo Cars has enough capacity at its US assembly plant to move more of its production to the United States, he added.

"We have space, paint shops, the buildings, all that's there." he said. "We just need to make a final decision on which models and which platforms that we would move to the USA."

Volvo produces its SUV EX90 in its Charleston, South Carolina plant, but also imports both hybrid and electric models from Europe at the moment.

Rowan said Volvo could move its XC60 or XC90 models, which are on the same platform, to the plant in Charleston, or look at putting models using different technology there.

"We'd have to wait and see the tariff quotes and then that would help us make that decision," Rowan said.

The Swedish company, majority owned by China's Geely , on Wednesday presented a new fully electric sedan, ES90, its sixth electric car, as it seeks to replace most combustion engine cars in its line-up with fully electric vehicles by 2030.

The car, with a planned battery range of over 700 km (435 miles) will be built at Volvo Cars' manufacturing plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu, and the company sees China as its likely main market.