- Trump brought 16+ tech CEOs to Beijing, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Elon Musk — but China controls 90% of the rare earths those companies need
- The summit produced warm rhetoric and a Boeing promise, but no confirmed trade deals on AI chip access or critical minerals
- The US launched a $12B minerals initiative in February, but the Council on Foreign Relations says America cannot out-mine, out-process, or outspend China quickly enough
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on May 14 with an unusual entourage: 16 of America’s most powerful corporate executives trailing him into the Great Hall of the People. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink stood behind Trump as he shook hands with Xi Jinping — a visual meant to signal that US technology and capital remain irresistible to China.
What it actually signaled was something closer to the opposite. The executives were there because Trump has very little leverage heading into these talks, according to Ars Technica. His original plan — resolve Ukraine, stabilize the Middle East, diversify supply chains, then negotiate from strength — has largely failed. Escalations in Iran handed China even more leverage. The CEOs were the leverage substitute.
The two-day summit ended with Trump calling it “very successful” and Xi calling it a “historic and landmark” visit, per BBC. Xi accepted an invitation to the White House in September. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that China agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets, with a potential commitment for 750 more. China has not confirmed any of this.
The Two Flashpoints: Rare Earths and AI Chips
The summit’s core tension sits on two asymmetrical dependencies. China controls approximately 91% of global rare earth refining and 94% of magnet production, according to the International Energy Agency, as reported by TechResearchOnline. These materials go into semiconductors, electric vehicle motors, and military hardware — the foundation of every industry the CEOs in Trump’s delegation represent.
The other direction: Washington cleared Nvidia’s H200 chip sales to Chinese firms earlier this year, a move that followed months of lobbying by Huang, who has argued that restricting sales pushes Chinese customers toward domestic alternatives. Nvidia’s chips remain peerless, and access to them matters to Beijing, but China has been building its own AI chip capabilities at speed. The H200 approval hasn’t translated into actual sales yet — a gap the summit was partly designed to close.
“What is at stake is not just one trip or one headline but the direction of AI supply chains, the shape of future export controls, and the degree to which US chip leadership remains monetizable in China,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note reported by CNBC. The presence of Huang, Musk, and Cook, he added, signals that technology is among the top US priorities.
What Each CEO Wants — and What China Wants Back
The executives in Beijing are not window dressing. Each has concrete commercial interests that depend on Chinese cooperation, as Euronews detailed. Huang needs China to start buying Nvidia chips again. Cook needs Apple’s iPhone business in China — its second-largest market — to stabilize amid competition from Huawei and regulatory pressure. Musk needs Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory running and China’s approval for FSD rollout.
China’s pitch was direct. Premier Li Qiang met with the business leaders separately, urging them to invest more in China, per multiple reports. Xi said “China’s door to opening up will only open wider” — the kind of formulation Beijing deploys when it wants to appear welcoming without making specific commitments.
Trump’s stated goal was straightforward: opening up China for US businesses would be his “first request” to Xi, per CNBC. But China hawks in Congress could hinder any deal on AI chip exports, and Beijing knows it. The structural reality is that China can afford to be patient — its rare earth monopoly gives it a durable seat at any negotiating table.
The Minerals Gap the US Cannot Close Quickly
The Trump administration launched a $12 billion initiative in February 2026 to stockpile critical materials. In April, USA Rare Earth announced plans to acquire Brazil’s Serra Verde Group, one of the few mines outside China with heavy rare earth supply. These are serious moves. They are also years away from meaningful production.
Heidi Crebo-Rediker of the Council on Foreign Relations put it bluntly: “The US and its allies cannot out-mine, out-process or outspend China quickly enough to rebuild resilience in the near term.” Kyle Chan of the Brookings Institution told CNBC that China’s export controls on rare earths and magnets are “a powerful source of leverage for Beijing.”
This is the asymmetry that defines the relationship. The US makes the best AI chips in the world. China refines the materials those chips — and the devices they go into — require. Neither side can fully substitute the other, but China’s monopoly is harder to replace than Nvidia’s market position, which faces growing competition from Chinese alternatives like DeepSeek and Huawei’s Ascend line.
Key elements of the October 2025 trade truce begin expiring as early as November 2026, adding urgency. Both sides have an incentive to extend the arrangement. Neither side has an incentive to make major concessions.
The AI Topic That Appeared at the Last Minute
Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, spent two weeks in Beijing before the summit discussing US-China relations with Chinese officials and businesses. He noted that the topic of AI was suddenly added to the agenda, according to Ars Technica, with both countries interested in discussing how to manage AI risks after China blocked Meta’s acquisition of a Singapore-based AI startup called Manus, founded by Chinese engineers.
The late addition suggests AI governance is becoming a diplomatic issue in its own right, separate from trade. The EU AI Act is already forcing companies like OpenAI to offer regulatory access to models like GPT-5.5 Cyber. China has its own generative AI regulations. The US has… mostly export controls. A framework for bilateral AI risk discussion, even a vague one, would be the most concrete outcome of this summit — but no such framework was announced.
FAQ
What was the Trump-Xi summit about?
The May 14-15, 2026 summit in Beijing focused on US-China trade relations, with two key technology flashpoints: China’s dominance over critical minerals (rare earths) and US AI chip market access. Trump was accompanied by 16+ corporate executives including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Tesla’s Elon Musk.
Did the summit produce any deals?
Trump claimed China agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets with a potential 750 more, and “billions of dollars” of soybeans. China has not confirmed any purchases. No deals on AI chip access or critical minerals were announced. Xi accepted an invitation to the White House in September.
Why does China control rare earths?
China controls approximately 91% of global rare earth refining and 94% of magnet production, per the International Energy Agency. This dominance comes from decades of investment in processing infrastructure, lower environmental standards, and strategic stockpiling — not from having the most raw deposits.
What does the US want from China on AI chips?
The US wants China to open its market to American semiconductor companies, particularly Nvidia, which received approval to sell H200 chips to Chinese firms earlier in 2026. Actual sales have not materialized, partly because of ongoing Chinese concerns about dependency on US technology.
What happens when the trade truce expires?
Key provisions of the October 2025 tariff truce begin expiring as early as November 2026. Without an extension, tariff escalation could resume, potentially disrupting supply chains for critical minerals and technology components on both sides.
[Editor’s note: This article was updated on May 15, 2026 to correct two errors. (1) Manus was described as “a Chinese company”; it is a Singapore-based AI startup founded by Chinese engineers, per TechCrunch and Forbes. (2) The IEA statistics for China’s share of rare earth refining and magnet production were corrected from “approximately 90% refining, 91% magnet production” to “approximately 91% refining, 94% magnet production” per the IEA’s Rare Earth Elements 2025 report.]
