US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng concluded high-level bilateral talks in New York on September 20, 2026, with Washington proposing a new artificial intelligence safety notification mechanism for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to consider at their upcoming summit.
AI Safety Notification Mechanism Proposed
During the meetings hosted at JPMorgan Chase headquarters, US officials tabled a framework aimed at establishing a dedicated US-China AI dialogue. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the system would create a transparent notification process for incidents that reach a national security threshold, helping both nations manage common technological goals and threats.
“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 told reporters after the conclusion of the talks.
While the Chinese response to the specific notification proposal remained officially unconfirmed, state news agency Xinhua characterized the discussions as “frank, in-depth and constructive exchanges on key economic and trade issues.” Xinhua noted that both sides discussed implementing agreements reached during earlier rounds of trade and investment consultations.
Tariff Reductions and Trade Frameworks
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated that the talks laid the groundwork for a successful upcoming summit between President Trump and President Xi scheduled in Washington later in the week. The officials reviewed plans to operationalize the “Board of Trade” process agreed upon in May, which identifies potential tariff cuts on non-strategic, low-sensitivity goods.
Greer outlined that potential US tariff reductions could apply to a relatively small subset of balanced trade items. Possible Chinese exports under consideration include consumer goods and low-tech items, while US exports could encompass energy, agricultural goods, and medical devices.
However, significant friction points remain in the bilateral economic relationship. Greer and Bessent noted that export controls on sophisticated AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment were kept off the agenda for the AI mechanism talks. Furthermore, US officials reported no new breakthroughs regarding the flow of critical minerals to American companies, despite prior commitments made by Beijing under the previous trade truce.
Summit Preparations and Context
The New York negotiations directly precede the Washington summit between President Trump and President Xi. The talks also unfold against the backdrop of a fragile trade truce established in Busan, South Korea, which capped US tariffs on Chinese goods at approximately 20 percent ahead of its scheduled November 10 expiry.
US Representative Ro Khanna, the ranking Democrat on the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, stressed that addressing AI safety must form a central component of any final agreement negotiated by the two heads of state.
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