Overview
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held all‑day talks on Sunday at JPMorgan Chase’s Manhattan headquarters to set the agenda for Presidents Trump and Xi.
- Negotiators focused on three concrete issues: artificial intelligence guardrails, possible mutual tariff cuts for non‑sensitive goods, and flows of rare‑earth magnets and other critical minerals.
- The United States proposed a formal US‑China AI dialogue that would act as a notification channel for serious AI incidents and both sides agreed to continue meetings on the topic.
- Officials and analysts said expectations are low for sweeping breakthroughs and that the likely outcome is small, technical agreements or an extension of the trade truce rather than structural change.
- Xi’s state visit to Washington this week, including a Sept. 24 state dinner with major tech and finance CEOs, raises pressure for deliverables that could affect chip exports, mineral supply chains and U.S. farm and aerospace pledges.