Bessent and He Lifeng hold trade talks ahead of Trump-Xi summit
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on Sunday ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, with talks covering trade, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals before the Sept. 24 Trump-Xi summit. Bessent said the discussions aim to lay groundwork for President Donald Trump to advance American economic interests, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also expected to participate. The meeting precedes Xi's first U.S. visit during Trump's second term, amid escalating competition between the world's largest economies. The summit will address AI safety, tariffs, and trade, with a key U.S.-China trade truce suspension of heightened reciprocal tariffs set to expire Nov. 10. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Citigroup's Jane Fraser, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang are expected at a state dinner during Xi's visit.