Trade talks covered Board of Trade plan as tariff truce expiration nears
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in New York on Sunday that he and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had discussed creating a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents with national-security implications during the talks, which he called “successful.”
“We think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important,” Bessent said.
The meeting also covered other topics, including plans to “operationalise” a process to identify potential tariff cuts on goods, a mechanism called the Board of Trade. A truce in the tariff war between the world’s two biggest economies is due to expire on 10 November.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the two sides had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges on key economic and trade issues” and confirmed AI was among the topics discussed. The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in the US for comment.
Bessent said in a post on X on Sunday that the talks “help lay the groundwork for President Trump to advance America’s economic interests and deliver results for the American people.”
The meeting comes as the US and China remain locked in a race to dominate the AI and technology industries. AI has come under intense scrutiny in recent days after researchers warned of the risks posed by the technology and some of the industry’s highest-profile figures called for developers to take a more cautious approach.
Trump has largely dismissed those concerns, arguing that sufficient policies around AI are already in place and that the United States cannot lose its competitive edge to China. “Whoever wins in AI, wins,” he said earlier this month.