Xi, Trump strike tariff and AI truce

by WILL COOPER & HAOYU ZHANG
WASHINGTON, (CAJ News) – CHINESE President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have agreed to ease some trade tensions and establish a new dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI), following Xi’s state visit to Washington last week.

The three-day summit produced no comprehensive settlement of the wider US-China trade dispute, but the world’s two largest economies agreed on several measures intended to prevent their rivalry from escalating.

Washington and Beijing agreed to reduce tariffs on about US$30 billion worth of goods from each country and extend their existing trade truce by two months.

The measures cover mainly non-sensitive products, including agricultural goods and consumer items. Reuters+1

The two governments will also operate a Board of Trade to address outstanding economic issues, while continuing discussions over critical minerals, including rare earths.

China is also expected to increase purchases of US agricultural products. MarketWatch

The agreement represents a pause rather than an end to the tariff war.

Major disagreements remain over technology, rare earths, market access, Taiwan and the future structure of bilateral trade. Council on Foreign Relations

AI emerged as another major area of competition and potential cooperation.

Xi and Trump agreed to establish a China-US AI dialogue, with the next meeting scheduled for November, and to create a communication channel for AI-related incidents.

The mechanism is intended to allow the two countries to discuss AI’s risks and benefits and respond to incidents with potentially serious consequences.

The issue is increasingly important because Washington views advanced AI as both an economic and national-security technology.

The United States wants to maintain its lead in frontier AI while addressing risks including cyberattacks, autonomous systems and other potentially dangerous applications.

Trump has nevertheless indicated that Washington will not slow its AI development to accommodate China.

He has argued that the US is ahead and should preserve that advantage rather than fully integrate its AI development with Beijing’s.

China’s position is more focused on managing AI’s development alongside its expansion.

Xi said the leading AI powers have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage the technology for public benefit and keep it under human control. Investing.com

Whether the two countries can translate those principles into common global rules remains uncertain.

Their agreement to establish dialogue indicates a willingness to communicate, but their competing economic, technological and security interests mean that cooperation is likely to coexist with intense strategic rivalry.

For the rest of the world, the summit offers a measure of stability between two powers whose decisions increasingly affect global trade, technology and economic security.

– CAJ News