US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifen concluded their talks in New York on Sunday. The US has proposed a new notification mechanism on the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) for US and Chinese Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to consider at their summit this week, Reuters reported.
Besant told reporters that the two sides discussed creating a new US-China dialogue on AI, with a particular focus on national security concerns and a notification system for shared goals and threats that would cover AI-related incidents that reach the level of a national security threat.
"We believe that, as with any cross-border activity, moving from opacity to greater transparency between the two leading AI powers in the world is of great importance," Besant said after the talks.
Trump and Xi first discussed possible consultations on AI development in May in Beijing, but the format was never formalized. approved.
China's response to the U.S. proposal remained unclear. Vice Premier He and China's chief trade negotiator Li Chengnan left the talks, held at JPMorgan Chase's headquarters in New York, without speaking to the media.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said U.S. export controls on high-tech AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment were not on the agenda of the AI-related mechanism talks.
Greer added that Sunday's discussions would lay the groundwork for a "successful summit" between Trump and Xi next Thursday and Friday in Washington.
"These are the two most powerful countries in the world, whether it's trade or AI, and it's crucial that they can cooperate. That doesn't mean there aren't challenges in their relationship. "Many of them are obvious," Greer said.
The meeting also touched on other key topics, including plans to "implement" a process agreed in May for each side to identify potential tariff reductions for non-strategic goods, an initiative called the "Board of Trade."
Greer did not provide a specific list of products that could benefit from such reductions, but reiterated his desire for "a relatively small group of U.S. and Chinese goods that are not sensitive and can be traded in a balanced manner."
These goods would be considered a "separate category." Potential Chinese exports include "consumer goods and low-tech products," he said.
American exports that could benefit from such an approach include energy resources, agricultural products and medical devices, he added.
Greer and Besant did not mention progress on facilitating the supply of critical raw materials to American companies, an issue on which U.S. officials say the quantities are insufficient, despite Beijing's earlier commitments to ease restrictions under a U.S.-China trade truce last year.
The discussions point to gradual progress in the delicate trade relationship, which has serious implications for the global economy.
"I think maintaining the status quo is probably the best possible scenario that both sides hope for," said Anna Ashton, an analyst on China trade issues, before the meeting. and founder of Ashton Intelligence.
Besant and Greer did not provide an update on other issues that remained unresolved after the May meeting in Beijing between Trump and Xi, including China's commitments to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods by $17 billion annually and to buy more than 200 Boeing aircraft.
Trump and Xi must reach an agreement that covers the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), said U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna, the top Democratic member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party.
"The first request to Trump and Xi Jinping is to draft an international agreement, with two of the main principles being: first, banning any kind of self-improving AI and second, introducing safeguards to prevent AI from being misused by humans to create biological or nuclear weapons," Canna said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday. on CBS.
China's Ministry of Commerce said Saturday that He would also lead a delegation of Chinese companies to the United States for economic and trade consultations ahead of the summit.
The business delegation - similar to the group of American CEOs that Trump brought to Beijing in May - was announced as Trump expressed his willingness to allow Chinese automakers to build factories in the United States.
On Friday, U.S. auto industry groups urged Trump to maintain an effective ban on the sale of Chinese vehicles in the United States, citing national security concerns.