The US and China are discussing a “board of investment” that would potentially allow Chinese companies to invest in the US in non-sensitive industries, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“There are plenty of things that the Chinese could invest in,” he said in a taped interview with CNBC in Beijing broadcast on May 14, declining to confirm a suggestion that Beijing has plans for US$1 trillion (S$1.27 trillion) or more.
“What we want to do is make sure that these investments don’t get referred to CFIUS,” Mr Bessent said, referring to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a national security review panel which he chairs.
He said the board could “pre-game” those investments to make sure they are not in strategic or sensitive areas.
Mr Bessent also indicated he was not aware of a reported deal for Chinese firms to buy Nvidia H200 chips.
A previously reported Board of Trade is also under negotiation, Mr Bessent said.
One idea is to remove tariffs on about US$30 billion worth of trade “for non-critical areas and areas that we’re not trying to reshore”, he said.
President Donald Trump arrived late on May 13 for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on issues such as US arms sales to Taiwan, the energy shock caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a tariff truce between the world’s largest economies.
The leaders’ summit’s first full day is wrapping up, with expressions of hope on both sides that the world’s largest economies can stabilise their trading relationship over the longer term. BLOOMBERG