TikTok looked set to launch a legal challenge against an executive order by US President Donald Trump effectively banning the company’s operations in the country from mid-September.

Legal action was one of several options TikTok said it was considering earlier this month when Trump originally set out to stop US companies working with parent ByteDance. Several media outlets now report TikTok will initiate proceedings this week.

A TikTok representative appeared to confirm its plan, telling Mobile World Live it had “no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system”, in an effort to ensure “the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and users are treated fairly”.

The company claimed it attempted to engage with the US administration to achieve “a constructive solution” for almost a year, but said it faced “a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses”.

Following the order blocking trading with ByteDance from 20 September, Trump ordered the company to divest its US operations within 90 days.

Microsoft emerged as an early potential suitor for TikTok’s US unit, with Oracle also said to be interested.