Trump-Xi Summit Yields No Major Trade Deals Despite Promises

This week's summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could ease economic tensions between the countries in the short term, but it failed to deliver any breakthrough trade deals, according to some experts.

"I was expecting that China would announce mega purchases of U.S. agriculture, energy and airplanes," Wendy Cutler, a former negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, told CBS News. "So far, it doesn't seem like Trump and his team have a lot to show for the visit."

President Trump said Friday the meeting in Beijing produced "fantastic trade deals" and called the trip an "incredible visit." Chinese officials signaled openness to new areas of cooperation with the U.S.

"It looks like both sides are saying they got somewhere, but we are not there yet — we are still waiting," said David Meale, head of the China practice at Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm. "Neither side has come out with a clear statement of details. I don't think that means it's a failure or that those deals don't exist. They just need to cross the Ts and dot the Is on a few things."

Boeing stands to gain from the talks. Trump said Friday that China agreed to purchase at least 200 aircraft from the U.S. aviation giant, with the number possibly growing to 750 planes.

The initial order fell short of some analysts' expectations before the summit, according to investment advisory firm Capital Economics. Boeing shares dropped 3.8 percent Friday as investors reacted coolly to the news.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump also said China agreed to buy more U.S. oil and agricultural products, including "billions of dollars of soybeans" from American farmers.

A White House official told CBS News that Trump's trip delivered key agricultural agreements to expand U.S. farmers' exports to China and an aircraft purchase deal to support U.S. manufacturing jobs. More details on the agreements are coming, the official said.

The White House announced creation of a "Board of Trade" and "Board of Investment" to manage the U.S. economic relationship with China.

Specifics on the deals remain limited, energy and trade experts said.

"As far as I can tell, this isn't confirmed, and we haven't seen a statement saying that China wants to buy X barrels of oil per day from the U.S.," said Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. "Saying that China wants to buy more energy from the U.S. will please Trump, but it doesn't bind China to anything."

Cutler, now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, had expected more details on renewed Chinese commitments to buy other U.S. farm products like corn and beef.

Economists pointed out that the deals Trump highlighted are verbal commitments with no guarantees.

Trump's 2017 China trip, for instance, led to a pledge by state-owned China Energy Investment Corporation to invest nearly $84 billion in shale gas and chemical projects in West Virginia. The plans fell apart as U.S.-China tensions rose.

Trade experts said U.S. and Chinese officials could finalize such deals in coming weeks and months.

"This is not their one and only meeting, which could lead to both sides deciding to take their time before they announce anything, rather than rushing," Cutler said.

Cutler highlighted the value of talks between the world's two largest economies. U.S. and Chinese officials described the meeting as a step to stabilize ties, which worsened last year after Trump imposed tariffs of up to 125 percent on Chinese imports. China responded with duties on U.S. products.

"They get to relabel the relationship as stable, and it feels like there is a new framework for how we're going to engage on the economic front," Cutler said.

That framework features the new Board of Trade to mediate trade disputes. The sides would consider lifting tariffs on about $30 billion in goods, Reuters reported.

That amount is less than 10 percent of U.S.-China trade value in 2025, Capital Economics said.