Bessent, Greer Say US-China Board of Trade, AI Dialogue Now Operational Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit

 The United States proposed a notification mechanism making national security incidents involving AI transparent.

Negotiating teams led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng agreed to “operationalize” U.S. proposals for a Board of Trade and AI talks on Sunday.

“We just had a very, very successful engagement with the Chinese on trade and AI completing the where we left off in Beijing,” Bessent told reporters after the bilateral talks in New York.

Bessent said in a social media post before the talks that they would help lay the groundwork for President Donald Trump to “advance America’s economic interests and deliver results for the American people” during his summit this week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Emerging from the talks, the secretary said the two sides had agreed to establish a mechanism through they can identify “a shared vision of common goals and common threats.”

“It’s going to be called the U.S.-China AI dialogue,” he said. “We’ve agreed to meet again.”

Bessent added that the United States has asked to establish a notification mechanism for reporting national security incidents involving AI.

“We we think that, just like with any crossborder activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important,” he said.

U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, who also joined the talks, said, “We started in Beijing with notions on a Board of Trade, AI dialogue. Today, those notions have become reality.”

The status of the U.S.–China trade truce, set to expire on Nov. 10, was expected to be among the priority topics.

Greer said that the Board of Trade, now in operation, was actively looking for balanced baskets of “non-sensitive” consumer goods that the United States and China can agree to continue trading even if tensions escalates.

“[T]eams right now upstairs are continuing to work through this to see if they can find some critical mass of goods where, in the future when and if there are trade measures, these are goods that could be considered separately,” he said.

Greer said the U.S. side was considering low-tech imports from China, while China was looking at U.S. energy products, agricultural goods, and potentially medical devices, among other items.

In an earlier Sept. 18 statement, Greer said, “The Trump Administration will continue to pursue balanced trade with China by monitoring the implementation of recent commitments, optimizing trade in non-sensitive goods, and improving market access for American farmers, manufacturers, and workers.”

U.S. officials have criticized the Chinese regime for failing to live up to its commitments under the current trade deal, which includes a pledge to issue licenses for exporting rare earth materials needed by various U.S. industries. In a call with reporters on Sept. 18, a senior administration official said the flow of rare earth and critical minerals from China has fallen short of Washington’s expectations.

Beijing’s financial links with Tehran were also expected to be on the agenda during the Sept. 20 meeting. Neither official singled them out in their comments on the meeting.

Bessent said at a Sept. 15 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee that the Trump administration has sanctioned three Chinese banks found to be dealing with Iran.

Bessent previously told lawmakers he has had “some very good private discussions” with Chinese officials on this issue and hoped to continue the conversation with his Chinese counterpart on Sunday.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrives for a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2026. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

The Trump administration has sought to cut the Iranian regime off from the global economy, which has brought renewed attention to Tehran’s largest trading partner and oil buyer, China.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi discussed the situation in the Middle ​East on Sept. 17, according to a Chinese summary of the phone call.

Wang also called for better communication and preparations for “high-level engagement in the next stage,” his ministry said. The State Department hasn’t issued any readout as of the time of publication.

The Chinese side did not issue a statement following the Sunday talks. Official Chinese state media outlets published photos of the officials shaking hands. Ahead of the talks, the Chinese commerce ministry said the consultations would focus on “economic and trade issues of mutual concern.”

Xi is scheduled to visit Washington on Sept. 24 and 25. The two leaders last met in Beijing in May.

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