A group of desperate CEOs who piggybacked on President Donald Trump’s trip to China appear to have wasted their time.
More than a dozen business leaders, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, were part of a delegation that traveled with the president to Beijing, hoping to butter up the Chinese government and persuade it to address issues facing their companies.
However, as noted by The New York Times, China has not made any concessions that might benefit these companies in the week since Trump left his high-stakes Beijing meeting with President Xi Jinping.
“They were there to solve specific bottlenecks,” Alison Szalwinski, vice president at the Asia Group, a Washington consulting firm, told the Times. “Some of those companies were dealing with licensing issues, market access, and supply chain approvals, all being done on a case-by-case basis.”
Musk, the on-again, off-again ally of Trump, was particularly desperate to try to remove some Beijing-imposed roadblocks.
China had blocked the export of solar manufacturing equipment from Suzhou Maxwell Technologies to Musk’s Tesla company in the weeks prior to Trump’s meeting with Xi, sources told the Times.
Tesla Energy, the sustainable energy division of the electric car company, is hoping to purchase $3 billion in solar panels and cell manufacturing equipment from Suzhou Maxwell Technologies as part of plans to add 100 gigawatts of solar capacity in the U.S.
Despite Musk’s best efforts, there is still no indication that China has any plans to lift the export block.
GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp also traveled to Beijing. He hoped to resolve the long-running issue of China’s severe restrictions on the export of rare earth metals and minerals, imposed in retaliation for Trump’s sweeping tariffs. GE Aerospace relies on rare earth from China to build its engines and has struggled to obtain them since the export restrictions were put in place.
China’s retaliation against Trump’s tariffs also affected fellow delegate Brian Sikes, of Cargill. The food manufacturing company, along with other agricultural businesses, has been severely hit by the trade war between Trump and Xi.
China has not made any significant announcements in the wake of Trump’s visit beyond a vow to purchase at least 200 Boeing aircraft from the U.S. and a commitment to buying billions of dollars’ worth of soybeans.
Trump even tried to show off the CEOs to Xi in a desperate attempt to get his Chinese counterpart to be more open to doing business with them.
“I didn’t want the second or the third in the company, I wanted only the top, and they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China,” Trump told Xi at the Great Hall of the People. “And they look forward to trade and doing business.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Tesla for comment.
