The U.S. Department of the Treasury said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined new trade steps and a technology risk dialogue with China in remarks prepared for delivery on Wednesday at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Gala.
Bessent said U.S.-China relations are being shaped by direct leader-level meetings and new structures focused on balance and reciprocity. He said the objective is to “de-risk, not to decouple.”
According to the prepared remarks, the United States and China have set up a Board of Trade that agreed to pinpoint items totaling $30 billion on each side that could get better tariff terms. Bessent said the board also started an agriculture group to tackle trade hurdles. He added that China previously agreed to buy from the United States no less than 25 million metric tons of soybeans and 10 million metric tons of coal during the next two years.
Bessent said a separate Board of Investment will serve as a structured forum for commercially significant issues, including market access for American companies and greater predictability for Chinese companies.
The remarks said the administration intends to measure engagement by its domestic results, including prosperity, economic resilience, and national security. Bessent said the approach seeks a more balanced relationship after a long-standing U.S. trade imbalance with China.
Bessent also announced what he called a new dialogue with China on superintelligence, or SI. He said it is designed to guard against shared risks, prevent misunderstandings between the two systems, exchange best practices for evaluating and testing advanced models before release, and keep human judgment in control of the technology. He said the two sides are setting up a direct channel so that either side can quickly notify the other about major events tied to its SI models.
On leader engagement, Bessent said President Donald Trump traveled to Beijing in May and President Xi Jinping came to Washington in September. He said he will join President Trump in Shenzhen next week for another meeting between the leaders, followed by a fourth encounter in Miami. The remarks did not give dates for those meetings.
Earlier this month, Treasury said Bessent pressed Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on implementing the Busan arrangement during a call, and raised unspecified concerns (Nov. 6, 2026).
The Treasury remarks did not say when the tariff changes would take effect, how the $30 billion in goods will be selected, or how the SI alert channel will operate.