US Treasury's Bessent and China's He to launch talks on AI, trade, and critical minerals

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are meeting in Manhattan on September 20, 2026, to lay the groundwork for an upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The high-stakes talks focus on critical issues including the impending November 10, 2026, expiration of their trade truce, shortfalls in China's critical mineral supply, and establishing guardrails for open- and closed-weight artificial intelligence models.

Bessent-He preparatory talks

• ▪US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are scheduled to meet on September 20, 2026, at JP Morgan Chase's headquarters in Manhattan
• ▪The meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on September 20, 2026, in Manhattan is intended to prepare potential agreements ahead of a Washington summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
• ▪US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will participate in a meeting held on September 20, 2026, at JPMorgan Chase's headquarters in Manhattan alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng

US-China trade truce expiration

• ▪The US-China trade truce was established during a November 2025 meeting in Busan, South Korea, after tit-for-tat escalations had raised tariffs to triple-digit levels
• ▪The US-China trade truce reached in Busan, South Korea, in November 2025, which capped US tariffs on Chinese goods at approximately 20% during Donald Trump's second term, is set to expire on November 10, 2026

Critical minerals supply shortfalls

• ▪Under the trade truce reached in Busan, South Korea, in November 2025, China promised to restore the flow of critical minerals and rare-earth magnets to United States and global users
• ▪A senior United States official stated on September 18, 2026, that China's performance in restoring critical mineral flows under the trade truce reached in Busan, South Korea, in November 2025, has not been up to par

AI guardrails discussions

• ▪US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for the United States and China to agree on artificial intelligence guardrails to prevent powerful models from being accessed by malign non-state actors
• ▪The artificial intelligence discussions planned for September 20, 2026, between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng follow reports, cited by Bessent, of security breaches involving AI models

Tariff reduction mechanisms

• ▪The United States and China agreed in May 2026 to launch discussions to reduce tariffs on non-strategic goods under a Board of Trade mechanism
• ▪Holdover issues from the May 2026 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing include Chinese pledges to increase purchases of United States agricultural goods by $17 billion annually and to purchase more than 200 Boeing aircraft

Debatable claims

• ▪The US should restrict domestic companies from using Chinese open-weight AI models
• ▪The US should extend its trade truce with China beyond November 2026