Bessent: US, China talk trade, AI ahead of Xi visit

The Sunday session between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and their Chinese counterparts was framed by Bessent as a continuation of earlier talks in Beijing, not a fresh start. The two sides agreed to meet again, and Bessent said they discussed how to "operationalize" the Board of Trade, the body that would sit alongside the existing national security review process.

On AI, the US put forward a "notification mechanism" for incidents that pose threats to national security, paired with a "shared vision" of "common threats." That proposal, and the plan for a formal US-China AI dialogue, remain proposals until the leaders meet.

On trade, Greer described a "relatively small subset" of goods that could be handled through the Board of Trade instead of a national security review, naming consumer goods, "low-tech" items, energy-related products, agricultural goods, and medical devices. How much of that list survives the week's meetings — and whether the AI dialogue takes shape — is likely to depend on the Xi visit itself.