Bessent-He Talks Set Stage for Trump-Xi Summit on Trade, AI

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on September 20 to discuss key issues ahead of the upcoming summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping. The meeting, described by Bessent as 'very successful', covered topics such as AI safety, trade policy, investment frameworks, and critical mineral governance.

The discussion centered around guardrails for open-weight and closed-weight AI models to prevent advanced systems from falling into the hands of malicious actors. Both sides agreed to schedule a dedicated follow-up dialogue on AI after the summit. They also touched on critical mineral supply chains, with China dominating the global supply of rare-earth elements.

The talks are seen as a crucial step in resolving long-standing trade tensions between the two countries. The current US-China trade truce is set to expire on November 10, and a failure to reach an agreement could lead to escalating tariffs. Bessent's meeting with He Lifeng was effectively a final prep session before the summit.