U.S.-China Summit Underlines Stalemate Between Washington and Beijing

The United States and China remain stuck in a stalemate, but Beijing isn’t likely to be disappointed.

President Trump and Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping convened in Beijing on May 14 to 15 to discuss a slate of bilateral issues, including trade, Taiwan, technology, and the ongoing war in Iran.

Beijing largely focused on locking in trade certainty, avoiding new major punitive actions, and settling on a tone for planned September talks in Washington. Rather than reset relations with Washington, Xi largely aimed to manage current ties and protect Beijing’s longer-term investments in bolstering its power.

Summit Covers Trade, Regional Tensions

Rather than threaten punishing tariff rates or new export controls, both vulnerabilities given China’s slowing economy, President Trump claimed that China had agreed to purchase American oil, soybeans, and Boeing aircraft, the Chinese read-out of the meeting did not confirm any specific orders.

During Trump’s first term, Beijing also committed to importing more American agricultural exports and aircraft under its “Phase One” trade agreement with the United States, though failed to fulfill its promised purchases. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also noted that both sides discussed establishing a “Board of Trade” and “Board of Investment” to oversee economic relations between the two countries. Bessent promised that China would invest in “non-strategic” sectors of the American economy to avoid being blocked by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Trump and Xi also reportedly discussed the ongoing conflict in Iran, including the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. China remains a key partner for Tehran, purchasing 90 percent of its crude and allegedly shipping drone components to the regime to reconstitute its stockpiles. Following the meeting, Trump claimed that China would refrain from sending military aid to Tehran, though he did not specify if this agreement would cover Chinese dual-use components such as chemical precursors for ballistic missiles or commercial satellite imagery. Trump also pledged to reconsider current U.S. sanctions on Chinese refineries that purchase Iranian oil, including Hengli Petrochemical, China’s second-largest independent refinery.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that China also pledged that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, and that Beijing would reject any Iranian effort to impose taxes on shipping transiting the Strait. Neither issue was mentioned in Chinese state media accounts of the meetings.

Divisions Remain Over Taiwan and Technology

The Trump-Xi summit came amid growing tensions over Taiwan. In a state media read-out of the summit, Beijing warned that Washington must “exercise extra caution” in its relationship with Taipei, labeling the “Taiwan question” as one of China’s four “red lines” ahead of the meeting.

While Trump claimed he had not committed to any policy changes regarding the status of the island, he acknowledged that he had discussed a pending arms package with Xi and that he may raise the issue with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, both an abrupt departure from longstanding U.S. policy. Prior to Trump’s travel, Taiwan appropriated $14 billion for the package, which will likely include air defense systems and anti-armor missiles.

The summit also highlighted a renewed push by the Trump administration to restart sales of high-end semiconductors to China. On May 14, Reuters reported that the Commerce Department had previously approved sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to 10 Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance. However, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has reportedly held up the sales due to concerns over potential security risks, while Congress has pushed to tighten export controls on both chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

‘Strategic Stability’ Should Not Override U.S. National Security

China’s focus on “strategic stability” through the summit, coupled with Xi’s reference to past great power conflicts, reflects Beijing’s overarching emphasis on portraying the United States as the aggressor within the relationship while implicitly highlighting Washington as China’s long-term strategic threat.

Rather than accept Beijing’s framing, the United States should focus on building out deterrence across the Indo-Pacific, particularly by rapidly approving new arms sales to Taiwan. Washington should also continue to remove Chinese components and entities from American critical infrastructure while securing its lead in AI through stronger export controls.

Jack Burnham is a senior research analyst in the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Jack and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Jack on X @JackBurnham802. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.