On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke by phone with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, aiming to prepare the ground for President Xi Jinping's upcoming trip to the United States. Their conversation covered many areas of friction between the two nations.
In a message on X, Bessent wrote: "I emphasized that we expect Beijing to fully meet its commitments on rare earths and U.S. agricultural products. "We also discussed implementation of the Trade and Investment Boards as a mechanism to secure concrete progress toward a more balanced, fair, and constructive US-China economic relationship"." US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined the call.
He Lifeng expressed "serious concern" "over recent US measures taken against Beijing during the discussion, according to a readout from China's official Xinhua News Agency. The two sides agreed to" "enhance communication, build mutual trust and dispel doubt," the release said.
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Over the last 18 months, Bessent and He have held frequent meetings to talk about delicate topics in US-China ties, such as tariffs, rare earth minerals, and the social media platform TikTok. These interactions led to a tenuous easing of tensions, which enabled President Donald Trump to make a state visit to Beijing in May. A reciprocal visit by Xi to the United States is scheduled for September.
At present, the two largest global economies are operating under a trade ceasefire that resulted in the temporary removal of certain tariffs and export restrictions. However, new strains have emerged lately, covering issues like new import tariffs as Trump seeks to reimpose trade barriers, access to rare earths, possible Chinese arms deliveries to Tehran during the US-Iran conflict, and the release of Chinese AI models.
These recently introduced open-weight AI systems rival top-tier US-developed models, raising concerns in Washington. Bessent recently indicated that Washington might impose sanctions to address what he called possible IP theft by Chinese artificial intelligence companies.
These talks and measures reflect the broader struggle between the world's two largest economies to stabilize their relationship while competing in technology, trade, and influence. Rare earth minerals are a key point, as China dominates their supply and the US wants reliable access.
Meanwhile, the emergence of advanced Chinese AI models has heightened US concerns about competitive advantage and intellectual property. The upcoming Xi visit will be a critical test of whether the two sides can translate dialogue into durable agreements.
In a separate move, the United States placed new limits on robots and inverters manufactured abroad, pointing to risks in supply chains. Although the Federal Communications Commission's restrictions did not explicitly name China, they effectively barred goods from the country because the vast majority of such products are made there.
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