US and Chinese officials held talks in New York on trade and artificial intelligence as part of preparations for a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the White House on 24 September, amid efforts to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
US-China agreement to continue meetings
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, after an eight-hour meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, that the two sides had held successful talks and agreed to arrange additional meetings. He added that the parties would establish the “US-China Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence” to discuss risks and mechanisms for mutual notification concerning security threats.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who took part in the meetings alongside Chinese official Li Chenggang, said the talks paved the way for possible agreements and expected decisions during the Trump-Xi summit in Washington.
Extending the trade truce and chip restrictions
The United States and China are seeking to extend the existing trade truce, amid continuing disputes including restrictions imposed by Washington since 2022 on exports of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to Beijing. US officials are also seeking to ensure the continued flow of minerals to American factories and follow up on previous Chinese commitments to purchase US agricultural goods.
The dispute also includes US accusations that Beijing copies artificial intelligence products using “distillation”, a method of transferring knowledge and learning from a large, complex model known as the “teacher” to a smaller model requiring less computing power, known as the “student”. The Chinese embassy described the accusations as baseless.
Yu Su, an expert at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said there was an opportunity to make progress on tariffs, agricultural purchases and some export restrictions. The summit is also taking place amid sensitive political issues, including disagreements over Taiwan and Iran. Trump played down reports that Chinese entities had provided Iran with images of a US military site in Jordan, saying that the two countries spy on each other.
The value of goods traded between the United States and China reached 221.6 billion US dollars in the first seven months of this year, while the United States recorded a trade deficit of 91.2 billion US dollars, according to US Census Bureau data.
