US Treasury's Bessent, China's He to launch talks on AI, trade, critical minerals

Business Recorder reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will sit down on Sunday in Manhattan to lay groundwork for possible deals on artificial intelligence, tariffs and critical minerals. Those preparatory talks come before a high-profile summit in Washington later this week between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will also take part at the JP Morgan Chase headquarters, where the sessions are expected to continue through the day.

The agenda includes a trade truce due to lapse on November 10, plus rare earth magnet supplies that American officials judge insufficient. AI safeguards are also under discussion after reports of serious security lapses involving AI models. A senior US official told reporters that China's minerals deliveries have fallen short of what Beijing promised.

Analysts expect only modest steps that would show both governments are holding back from escalation in a sensitive trade relationship with wide global consequences. Anna Ashton, who founded Ashton Intelligence, expects some deliverables ahead of the presidential summit but does not see a breakthrough. Other agenda items carried over from the Beijing meeting in May include tariff cuts on non-strategic goods and Chinese purchases of US farm goods and Boeing aircraft.