Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is assembling an investor group to buy TikTok

As Congress weighs a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok, former Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Thursday he is assembling an investor group that will try to purchase the China-based company.

“This should be owned by U.S. businesses,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday morning. “There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China.”

Mnuchin said he had spoken to a “bunch of people” about forming a group.

“It would be a combination of investors, so there would be no one investor that controls this,” he said. “The issue is all about the technology. This needs to be controlled by U.S. businesses.”

With concern growing among U.S. leaders about TikTok’s influence — particularly on young people — the U.S. House passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would lead to a nationwide ban if owner ByteDance Ltd. does not sell its stake. President Biden has pledged to sign the bill, which passed in the House by a vote of 352-65, but its fate is uncertain in the Senate.

Mnuchin, a Republican who served as Treasury secretary under former President Trump, said he thought the company should be sold.

“I think the legislation should pass, and I think it should be sold,” he said.