NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng wrapped up talks in New York on Sunday with the American delegation proposing a new AI security notification mechanism to be reviewed at the summit this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Bessent told reporters that the two sides discussed creating a new U.S.-China dialogue on AI, with a special emphasis on national security issues, through a notification system for common objectives and threats that would cover AI-related incidents that reach the level of national security.
“We believe that, just as in any cross-border activity, the transition from opacity to greater transparency between the first and second world powers in AI is very important,” said Bessent as he closed the negotiations.
Trump and Xi discussed for the first time possible consultations on AI development in May, in Beijing, but that forum was never formalized.
China’s response to the U.S. proposal was not clear, with a statement from the state news agency Xinhua briefly acknowledging that both sides talked about AI.
Xinhua described that the authorities had “frank, in-depth and constructive exchanges on fundamental economic and trade issues,” including the implementation of agreements reached in earlier rounds of trade and investment discussions.
“Obviously, one or two meetings cannot solve all issues, but the fact that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue is significant,” said George Chen, partner and head of the Digital Practice at The Asia Group, a consultancy, in Hong Kong.
“The negotiations on AI between the U.S. and China will move forward, and future sessions are expected to address more delicate topics, such as the use of AI for military purposes, AI safety principles, protection of critical infrastructure and prevention of cyberattacks.”
Chen added that the prospects for AI cooperation remain limited due to the low level of trust between the two countries and Beijing’s perception that Washington seeks to curb AI development in China.
The vice-premier He and China’s chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang left the talks at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in New York without speaking to the press.
The U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, said that U.S. export controls on advanced AI chips and chip fabrication equipment were not on the agenda of the talks on the AI mechanism.
Greer added that Sunday’s discussions would lay the groundwork for a “successful summit” between Trump and Xi on the upcoming Thursday and Friday in Washington.
“These are the two most powerful countries in the world, whether in trade or in AI, and it is imperative that they be able to work together. That does not mean there aren’t challenges in the relationship. Many of them are obvious,” Greer said.
The meeting also addressed other important topics, including plans to “operationalize” a process agreed in May for each side to identify potential tariff reductions on non-strategic goods.
Greer did not identify a specific list of products that could undergo such reductions, but reiterated his desire for a “relatively small subset of American and Chinese goods that can be traded in a balanced way and that are not sensitive.”
These would be considered “a separate category.”
Among Chinese exports, the potential candidates include “consumer goods and low-tech items,” he said, while American exports that could receive such treatment would include energy, agricultural products, and medical devices, he added.
Greer and Bessent did not mention any progress in improving the flow of essential minerals to American companies, which, according to U.S. officials, remains insufficient, despite Beijing’s prior commitments to ease restrictions under last year’s U.S.-China trade truce.
The discussions point to more gradual progress in preventing an escalation of tensions in a delicate trade relationship that has important implications for the global economy.
