Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng huddled in the newly minted JPMorgan Chase & Co. headquarters in midtown Manhattan Sunday ahead of their bosses’ big meet later this week.
He and Bessent began their meeting just after 10 a.m., with a goal of laying the groundwork for President Trump’s upcoming high-stakes summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping.
“I’m looking forward to focused, fulsome and constructive talks today that will set the stage for leaders meeting in Washington later in the week,” Secretary Bessent told reporters ahead of meeting with the Chinese Vice Premier.
The Trump administration reportedly planned tariffs on China over concerns about Beijing’s excess manufacturing capacity until after the president’s summit with Xi, Bloomberg News reported.
Looming over their talks is the fragile trade detente between Washington and Beijing. Last year, Trump had slapped triple-digit tariffs on imports from China, prompting a similar retaliation.
The trade truce with China was formalized in November of last year, though the two sides began de-escalating the tariff war months earlier. But that deal is set to expire this November.
Both Bessent and He, who oversees China’s economic and financial affairs, met in May during Trump’s visit to Beijing.
In the time since their last face-to-face, concerns about artificial intelligence have reached a fever pitch, with many US lawmakers urging the Trump administration to cut a deal with China on guardrails for the nascent technology.
Both sides have reportedly been exploring ways to slash tariffs on US energy and agricultural exports.
Bessnet touted his meeting with He as part of an effort to “advance America’s economic interests.”
The Trump-Xi meeting will take place on Thursday.
Xi hasn’t set foot on US soil since 2023 and hasn’t been to the White House since 2015. Trump visited China back in May, where he met with his Chinese counterpart.
Various issues, such as Trump’s public accusations over the summer that China meddled in US elections, have complicated planning for the upcoming summit over recent weeks.
