US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng began talks in New York on Sunday, laying the groundwork for possible agreements on trade, artificial intelligence, and other issues ahead of a planned summit between the countries' leaders. The discussions, which also include US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, are expected to continue throughout the day at JPMorgan Chase's headquarters.
The negotiations come ahead of a planned White House meeting on Thursday between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the leaders of the world's two largest economies. Both sides are expected to seek ways to ease tensions over trade, technology, and other strategic issues. Key topics include a possible extension of a trade truce set to expire in November, as well as guardrails for artificial intelligence development.
Bessent told reporters as he arrived for Sunday's discussions that he was looking forward to having focused, fulsome, and constructive talks that would set the stage for the leaders' meeting. US officials are also seeking to ensure the continued flow of rare earth magnets and critical minerals that are essential to American manufacturers.
A source familiar with the discussions told AFP that the talks would focus on artificial intelligence, trade, rare earths, and other issues, building on earlier rounds of bilateral negotiations. Working-level discussions could continue into Monday, the source said. Previous negotiations resulted in a Chinese commitment to purchase US agricultural goods, among other measures.
On artificial intelligence, Bessent said in an earlier statement that the two sides were open to discussions on avoiding shared risks and avoiding bifurcation of their two systems. The talks also come as Washington maintains economic pressure on Iran, with the US conflict with Tehran now in its seventh month.
Looking beyond Thursday's summit, former US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who chairs consultancy The Asia Group, said he expected Trump to announce plans for further meetings with Xi. Trump and Xi are expected to meet again in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shenzhen, China.
Trump is also expected to invite Xi to the G20 summit in December, which is set to be held at his Doral resort in Miami. The meetings between the US and Chinese leaders aim to address pressing economic issues and find common ground on contentious topics.
Key points
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng hold talks in New York ahead of a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- The talks focus on trade, artificial intelligence, and other strategic issues, including a possible extension of a trade truce and guardrails for AI development.
- The meetings aim to ease tensions between the world's two largest economies and set the stage for further discussions between the leaders.
