U.S.-China officials launch talks on AI, tariffs and critical minerals before Washington summit

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Highlights

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's He Lifeng launched talks in Manhattan on AI, tariffs, and critical minerals ahead of a Trump-Xi summit.
Key issues include the U.S.-China trade truce, rare-earth magnet exports, and Chinese purchases of $17 billion per year in U.S. agricultural products and over 200 Boeing aircraft.
November 2025 Busan truce capped U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods at about 20%, but U.S. officials claim China has underperformed on restoring critical mineral flows.

Sunday talks set agenda for leaders' summit

As reported by Reuters, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are holding talks at JP Morgan Chase's headquarters in Manhattan, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also taking part. The meetings are due to begin at about 10:30 a.m. local time and are expected to continue through the day as officials try to shape possible deliverables for the Trump-Xi meeting in Washington.

Among the main issues are the status of the U.S.-China trade truce, Chinese exports of rare-earth magnets and other critical minerals, and possible guard rails for AI after reported security breaches involving AI models. Bessent says the talks are expected to cover both open-weight and closed-weight AI models, while adding that the U.S. remains the leader in AI and is open to discussions on avoiding shared risks and deeper bifurcation between the two systems.

Analysts say the most likely result is a modest package of steps designed to show that Washington and Beijing are still trying to prevent a renewed escalation in trade tensions. Anna Ashton, founder of Ashton Intelligence, says there may be some visible deliverables because a presidential summit is approaching, but not a broader breakthrough.

Trade truce and supply commitments remain in focus

Several of the matters under discussion carry over from the two leaders' meeting in Beijing in May, including efforts to reduce tariffs on non-strategic goods and Chinese pledges to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products by $17 billion a year and buy more than 200 Boeing aircraft.

The meeting continues a pattern established over the past 16 months, with Bessent, He and Greer meeting in Europe and Asia ahead of leader-level engagements. Those efforts included the November 2025 truce reached in Busan, South Korea, which capped U.S. tariffs imposed during Trump's second term at about 20% on Chinese goods after retaliatory increases had pushed tariff levels into triple digits on both sides.

Under that truce, China promised to restore flows of critical minerals to U.S. and global users, but a senior U.S. official says Beijing's performance has not been up to par and that the issue will be discussed before the summit. China's Ministry of Commerce says He is also leading a delegation of Chinese companies to the U.S. to take part in economic and trade consultations ahead of the Washington meeting.

Our earlier article looked at the lead-up to President Xi’s U.S. visit, focusing on U.S.-China negotiations over a broader trade package that could include energy and agriculture measures. We noted that one key idea under discussion was easing China’s tariff on American LNG, which had sharply reduced U.S. shipments and could become more important as new export capacity comes online.

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