U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng pose during U.S.-China trade and economic talks at Santa Cruz Palace, the main official building of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Madrid, Spain, on September 14, 2025.
US Treasury | via Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are expected to meet on Sunday to iron out potential agreements on AI, tariffs and critical minerals ahead of this week’s high-stakes Washington summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The meeting at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s headquarters in Manhattan, which will include U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, will begin around 10:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. Japan time) and continue throughout the day.
Top topics include the status of the U.S.-China trade ceasefire that expires on November 10, the influx of Chinese rare earth magnets and critical minerals that U.S. officials say is insufficient, and the possibility of artificial intelligence guardrails following reports of major security breaches involving AI models.
Analysts said the most likely outcome would be for the U.S. and China to agree on small steps to show they continue to avoid escalating tensions in their delicate trade relationship, which would have serious implications for the global economy.
“The fact that we have a presidential summit coming up will probably show some results, but I don’t think we’re on the verge of any kind of breakthrough,” said Anna Ashton, a longtime China trade analyst and founder of Ashton Intelligence. “I think the status quo is probably the best hope for both sides in general.”
Many of the issues that He, Bessent and Greer will have to resolve for President Trump and Xi Jinping are carryovers from their May summit in Beijing, including efforts by both sides to reduce tariffs on non-strategic goods and China’s commitment to increase annual purchases of U.S. agricultural products by $17 billion and buy more than 200 Boeing aircraft.
The Bessant-Gurria meeting follows a pattern set over the past 16 months for President Trump and Xi Jinping, in which the three officials meet in cities across Europe and Asia to explore possible deals. These efforts include a cease-fire agreement reached in Busan, South Korea, in November 2025, capping tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese goods at about 20% during President Trump’s second term, after escalating retaliation pushed them to triple-digit levels on both sides.
The U.S. Supreme Court later struck down President Trump’s tariffs imposed under the National Emergencies Act, which included duties related to fentanyl trafficking.
The Trump administration is rebuilding the government under new authorities, including reinstating 12.5% tariffs on Chinese products over allegations of forced labor. It is finalizing a separate tariff investigation aimed at curbing the excess industrial capacity that is rampant in China.
Under the ceasefire, China has pledged to restore the flow of vital minerals to U.S. and global customers. But a senior US administration official told reporters on Friday that China’s performance in this area was “substandard” and said it would be a topic of discussion ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.
New lecture on AI
Bessent and He’s discussion on AI is important because the United States and China are two major forces driving the development of advanced AI tools and the global adoption of the technology. Rare earths play a critical role in the production of advanced semiconductor technologies that support AI.
Bessent said Friday that he expected the discussion to feature “both open-weight and closed-weight models.” Openweight models are AI systems with publicly accessible core elements that users can download and fine-tune for specific tasks.
China’s open-weight models are becoming more popular among U.S. companies because they are cheaper than closed-weight AI tools developed by Anthropic, OpenAI, and other U.S. companies.
“The United States remains a leader in AI, and we are open to discussions about avoiding common risks and avoiding fragmentation of our systems,” Bessent said in a statement about talks with China.
Bessent called on the US and China to agree on AI “guardrails” aimed at keeping powerful models out of the hands of malicious non-state actors.
Tariff reduction, investment
The United States and China agreed in May to set up a similar forum to address specific investment issues under a so-called “trade committee” mechanism and begin talks on reducing tariffs on non-strategic goods.
The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on U.S. companies investing in some Chinese industries, but Reuters reported Friday that it is working on rules that would likely allow U.S. drug companies to invest in and license promising Chinese medicines.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced Saturday that he will lead a delegation of Chinese companies to the United States to participate in economic and trade talks ahead of the summit.
The business delegation mirrors the group of American CEOs that President Trump brought to Beijing in May, and was announced after Trump expressed openness to Chinese automakers building factories in the United States. U.S. auto industry groups on Friday urged President Trump to maintain a de facto ban on sales of Chinese cars in the United States on national security grounds.
