The Summit Hangover Hits

The smiles are gone. Air Force One has landed. Now comes the accounting.

In the days since Trump's Beijing summit wrapped, trade analysts, energy experts, and even Wall Street have delivered a unified verdict: what Trump called "fantastic trade deals" on May 15 looks a lot more like a handshake and a press release.

"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."

This assessment comes from someone who spent years doing this kind of work.

Boeing Got a Headline, Not a Contract

The Boeing deal was supposed to be the centerpiece. Trump announced China agreed to purchase at least 200 aircraft — with a potential ceiling of 750 planes, according to CBS News.

Boeing itself called the trip a success, saying it accomplished its "major goal of reopening the China market to orders for Boeing aircraft" and confirmed an "initial commitment for 200 aircraft." Their spokesperson said further commitments are expected.

Note the word: commitment. Not contract. Not purchase order.

Wall Street noticed. Boeing shares fell 3.8% on Friday, according to CBS News. Investment advisory firm Capital Economics noted the initial order was smaller than analysts had expected going into the summit.

The biggest concrete win of the trip — the one deal everyone agrees actually happened — still sent Boeing's stock down. The market reaction signals investor skepticism about the durability of the announcement.

Oil and Soybeans: Where's the Paper?

Trump said China agreed to buy "billions of dollars of soybeans" and more U.S. oil. A White House official confirmed to CBS News that agricultural agreements had been reached and that more details were "forthcoming."

Forthcoming. Still.

China energy policy expert Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, told CBS News: "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."

A named expert in her specific field cannot verify the president's central claim.

The Ceremony-Over-Substance Problem

CBC News cited Rush Doshi, director of the China Strategy Initiative, who described the summit as "a summit where symbolism outweighs substance."

William Klein, a former U.S. diplomat in China who helped arrange Trump's 2017 Beijing visit, told CBC News that while all the protocols of a successful summit were followed, "it's difficult to say what the two countries agreed on."

David Meale, head of the China practice at Eurasia Group, put it diplomatically to CBS News: "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."

Yet announcing "fantastic trade deals" before the details are finalized runs ahead of the facts. Major trade agreements typically include confirmed figures and timelines before public announcement.

Media Coverage of the Summit

The New York Times ran a piece headlined "Here's the Trade Deal That Trump and Xi Should Have Reached" — discussing a hypothetical agreement while the actual outcome remained undefined.

CBS News did solid factual reporting but characterized Trump's claims as overblown. The broader context: China used similar tactics in 2017. Trump's first Beijing trip produced splashy announcements for deals that quietly evaporated. The pattern deserves attention.

CBC News offered the most granular read, noting the summit "may signal a further shift in China-U.S. relations away from the tariff war of 2025" — which addresses the actual substantive shift underneath the announcements.

The Two Boards Nobody Is Talking About

The White House announced the creation of a "Board of Trade" and a "Board of Investment" to manage the U.S.-China economic relationship, according to CBS News.

Major outlets have largely overlooked details on what these boards do, who staffs them, what authority they hold, and operating costs. Two new government bodies created with minimal public discussion.

What This Means for You

If you're a Boeing supplier, a soybean farmer in Iowa, or an energy company counting on China orders — the announcements are real. Binding, signed deals have not been confirmed.

The tariff war appears to be cooling. That genuinely helps prices and supply chains. But "cooling tensions" and "fantastic trade deals" describe two different things.

One is happening. The other remains to be documented.