Trump and top CEOs leave a more self-reliant China with few deals to show for it CNN Analysis by Stephanie Yang, May 15, 2026

 

Before leaving a two-day summit in Beijing, President Donald Trump said he had made many trade deals with China, accompanied by a cohort of “brilliant” tech billionaires.

But the details of those deals – at least on Friday afternoon in Beijing when Air Force One departed – were vague, signaling a potential shift in leverage between the world’s two largest economies since Trump’s last visit nearly nine years ago.

Investors, decrying the lack of specifics, sold off stocks. Dow futures were down more than 300 points, or 0.6%. The broader S&P 500 futures fell 1% and Nasdaq futures were 1.4% lower. With no firm resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Brent oil futures rose 3%, above $108 a barrel. Soybean futures sold off sharply after the United States spoke of a nebulous commitment from China to buy agricultural products. And bond yields rose as traders grew cautious about rising inflation.

The highly-anticipated trip was the first time a US leader met with Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital since November 2017. Trump had postponed the event, originally scheduled for April, as he navigated a historic energy crisis sparked by his decision to launch a war with Iran.

Still, Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening with a notably weaker hand in many ways than China. The US President faces growing backlash at home as prices for gas and many consumer goods rise, and consumer sentiment drops to record lows. He also faces midterm elections later this year, something his Chinese counterpart does not need to fret about.

On the last day of the summit, Trump announced that China would purchase 200 Boeing aircraft and was interested in buying more US oil, as the conflict in the Middle East had disrupted global supply. Trump also said he would consider lifting sanctions on Chinese companies that purchase Iranian oil.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also said the US expected a commitment to buy agricultural goods in the “double-digit billions” of dollars, but did not give more specifics.

China has not yet confirmed any US statements.

Analysts had harbored low expectations for any significant deals, given the dismal state of US-China relations. However, the lack of substantive breakthrough agreements stood in stark contrast to Trump’s last visit in 2017.

Nine years ago, Trump brought nearly 30 US executives with him. The US Commerce Department announced 37 deals totaling more than $250 billion before the US leader had even left Beijing, including a commitment from China to buy 300 Boeing airplanes that was never fulfilled.

This time, he was accompanied by 17 executives, mostly from tech and financial firms, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Kent Kedl, founder of risk and strategy advisory firm Blue Ocean Advisors in Shanghai, said the 2017 cohort was more focused on securing specific export agreements, whereas this year the group seemed to prioritize access to the China market and Trump himself.

China’s changing relianceThe executives who traveled to Beijing seeking inroads to the Chinese market are facing a much tougher sell now.

That’s because of China’s success in nurturing and developing homegrown firms as part of a national push to boost self-sufficiency in tech, manufacturing and domestic consumption. That push was given a shot in the arm by the trade war launched by the first Trump administration.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a last-minute addition to the trip, has lobbied the US government to approve sales of its less advanced chips to China. However, China has held off on purchases in part because of its preference to support its own chipmakers.

Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk traveled to Beijing as well, has been losing ground inside China and across much of the the globe to Chinese EV rival BYD. According to Counterpoint Research, Tesla’s EV market share in China fell to 10% in the last quarter of 2025, compared to 14% a year earlier. Tesla lost its status as the world’s largest seller of EVs to BYD last year as well.

Apple chief Tim Cook, also in Trump’s entourage to China, is seeing his company challenged by Chinese smartphone makers like Huawei and Xiaomi. Apple held about 22% of the smartphone market share in China as of the end of last year, according to Counterpoint Research, and still has significant electronics assembly operations in China.

Absent any announcements of US investments in China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the two nations discussed establishing a board of investment for Chinese investment in non-sensitive sectors in the US. U.S. He said there was also talk of setting up a board of trade that could facilitate the repeal of some tariffs on about $30 billion of goods.

But Trump said the subject of tariffs didn’t even come up during his negotiations with Xi

Analysts said that the two countries may also finalize more deals in the coming days, including for US agricultural and energy exports.

“For the meeting to be deemed a success by Trump’s rural constituents, the hope remains that China this week will announce further multi-year mega US U.S. agriculture purchases, including corn and meat, while confirming soybean purchasing commitments made last October,” wrote Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at Asia Society Policy Institute.

But even signed statements could take months to materialize, if at all.

According to Leah Fahy, senior China economist at Capital Economics, several projects announced in 2017 never materialized, including an $84 billion investment in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing in West Virginia, and a $43 billion investment in facilities in Alaska to liquefy and export natural gas.

“A look back to Trump’s last visit to China highlights why any headline deals should be looked at with a healthy degree of scepticism,” Fahy wrote.

Ultimately, China’s economy needs the US less than before– and that seems to include its biggest businesses as well.

CNN Analysis by Stephanie Yang,  May 15, 2026