Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, has met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York for talks on trade and artificial intelligence ahead of a planned summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
The discussions took place at JPMorgan Chase’s Manhattan headquarters on Sunday, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also attending. The meeting was intended to prepare the ground for the presidents’ talks later this week.
Mr Bessent described the discussions as a “very successful” conversation on trade and AI. He said the two countries had agreed to hold further dialogue on artificial intelligence.
The officials also discussed a proposed notification mechanism covering AI incidents linked to national security. Mr Bessent said the arrangement could move relations between the two leading AI powers from “opaque to more transparency”.
Trade remained a central issue, with Mr Bessent saying the US and China were using a newly operationalised “board of trade” to identify non-sensitive goods that could be traded in a balanced way.
The products under consideration include consumer and low-tech goods, energy products, agricultural goods and potentially medical devices, he said.
Mr Greer said the Trump administration would continue pursuing balanced trade with China by monitoring the implementation of recent commitments, improving access to the Chinese market for American farmers, manufacturers and workers, and expanding trade in non-sensitive goods.
“Most importantly, what we’re doing is we’re helping President Trump and President Xi continue their relationship,” Mr Bessent and Mr Greer said.
Mr Trump is due to welcome Xi to the White House on Thursday for a summit and state dinner. It will be the second face-to-face meeting between the two leaders this year, following talks in Beijing in May.
Artificial intelligence is expected to feature prominently at the summit, alongside an expiring trade agreement and discussions over critical minerals.
Democratic congressman Ro Khanna said an AI agreement should be the first item on the summit’s agenda, including “basic standards”. He said this should involve international monitoring, checks at data centres and “enforceable and verifiable tools”.
