U.S.-China Talks Summary Emphasizes Trade

2026-05-18

The White House on the 18th released a summary of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, held in Beijing on the 14th and 15th. It included expanded Chinese purchases of U.S. aircraft and agricultural products, but made no mention of Taiwan or artificial intelligence (AI).

Summary Released as a Fact Sheet

On the 18th, the U.S. side compiled the meeting results in fact-sheet form. Unlike a joint statement, this format is used to organize and publish only the points the U.S. wants to emphasize, and this time too the issues Washington sees as important were front and center.

According to the fact sheet, the two leaders agreed that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. They also called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and agreed that "no country or organization may be allowed to impose transit fees."

On the other hand, there was no mention of issues involving Taiwan or AI, which the U.S. and China are competing over as a technological superpower. AI governance was also discussed at the summit, but Trump told U.S. media that "trying to compete while also putting up guardrails is pretty hard to make work."

Trade Deal as a Result

The main achievement presented from the summit was a trade agreement.

The fact sheet said China "approved" the purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft and will buy $17 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products annually for three years starting in 2026. Those farm-product purchases build on the agreement reached at the U.S.-China summit held in South Korea in October 2025.

At the 2025 meeting, China had agreed to buy at least 25 million tons of U.S. soybeans annually from 2026 to 2028, as well as import U.S. timber and grain. The fact sheet released on the 18th did not specify which agricultural items would be newly purchased.

It also said the two leaders set up a "Trade Committee" and an "Investment Committee" as frameworks to promote bilateral trade and investment. U.S. Trade Representative Greer said the details will be worked out later.

The U.S. government also included measures for China to increase imports of U.S. beef. China requires overseas facilities that manufacture, process, or store imported food to register with Chinese authorities, and in March 2025 the registrations of hundreds of U.S. meat-processing facilities had expired. China says it will end this measure.

In addition, it stated that China will address U.S. concerns over the stable supply of rare earths.

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