Trump Leaves Beijing With Big Claims, Few Concrete Wins

CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, and the New York Times contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump headed home from Beijing declaring victory, flanked by some of America’s biggest tech executives and talking up “fantastic trade deals” with China.

Markets were not convinced.

By the time Air Force One left Friday afternoon, there were still few details on what had actually been agreed. Investors reacted fast. Stock futures dropped, oil prices climbed and bond yields jumped as traders concluded the summit produced more headlines than substance.

Dow futures fell more than 300 points before the open. Nasdaq futures sank 1.4%. Brent crude pushed above $108 a barrel as worries over the Iran conflict and the still-disrupted Strait of Hormuz continued hanging over global markets.

Trump said China would buy 200 Boeing jets, purchase more American energy products and potentially ramp up agricultural imports. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also floated the possibility of Chinese farm purchases worth “double-digit billions.”

China, though, has not confirmed any of it.

That contrast captured the mood around the summit. Trump described major progress. Beijing spoke in broader diplomatic language about “common understandings” and stable economic ties, while avoiding specifics.

The difference from Trump’s 2017 China trip was striking.

Back then, Washington announced more than $250 billion in agreements before Trump had even left the country. Boeing alone was tied to a proposed 300-plane deal. This time, the delegation was smaller and more focused on tech and finance, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook and Tesla’s Elon Musk.

And the balance between the two countries has shifted.

China today is far less dependent on American companies than it was nearly a decade ago. Years of trade wars, sanctions and export controls pushed Beijing to double down on self-reliance, especially in technology and manufacturing.

That has made life harder for the US executives who traveled with Trump hoping to regain ground in the Chinese market.

Nvidia is still trying to secure approval to sell lower-end AI chips in China, but Beijing has increasingly backed domestic chipmakers instead. Huawei’s resurgence has become a direct challenge to both Nvidia and Apple.

Tesla is also losing momentum in China as BYD tightens its grip on the electric vehicle market. Tesla’s China market share has slipped sharply over the past year, and BYD has already overtaken it globally in EV sales.

Even Apple, once dominant among Chinese consumers, is facing stronger competition from Huawei and Xiaomi.

Trump arrived in Beijing facing pressure that Xi Jinping largely does not. Inflation remains elevated in the US, gasoline prices are climbing because of the Iran war and consumer sentiment has weakened ahead of midterm elections later this year.

China’s economy has its own problems, but Xi does not have to worry about voters or election cycles.

Markets seemed to notice the imbalance. Hopes that China might help ease tensions in the Middle East or reopen the Strait of Hormuz faded quickly. Trump later said the US did not need the strait open “at all,” a remark that rattled traders already nervous about energy supplies.

Oil prices kept rising. Bond markets sold off globally. Investors began worrying that the energy shock could push inflation even higher and force central banks to stay aggressive.

There was also little clarity on tariffs, chip export restrictions or the future of the fragile US-China trade truce, which expires in November.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talked about possible investment and trade boards between the two countries. Trump later said tariffs never even came up during his conversations with Xi.

Some analysts still think more agreements could emerge in the coming days, especially around agriculture and energy exports. But memories of Trump’s earlier China deals linger. Several splashy announcements from 2017 never materialized.

For now, Beijing appears comfortable playing the long game. Trump came looking for quick wins and headline deals. China looked more interested in showing it can manage without them.