22.05.201801:17:00UTC+00China, U.S. Agree to Continue Talks, Easing Trade War Concerns

Washington and Beijing touted victory on Monday as the two nations pulled back from the brink of a global trade war and agreed to hold additional talks to bolster U.S. imports to China.

Over the weekend, the two nations pledged to continue discussing how China could import additional energy and agricultural commodities from the U.S. with the aim of narrowing the $335 billion annual goods and services trade deficit with China, although details and a strict timeline were unclear.

China seemed to be the biggest immediate beneficiary from the talks. The country scored a reprieve from the threatened tariffs on $50 billion of its exports to the U.S. as well as help for ZTE Corp., China's second biggest telecom equipment maker that has been hit by U.S. sanctions.

On the other hand, the U.S. seems to have won pledges of more imports by China, despite lack of specific details.

Threatened U.S. restrictions on Chinese investments in the U.S. also seemed to be put in the background. The U.S. Treasury said it fulfilled a legal obligation to report the headway made to President Donald trump on the development of such restrictions, but it did not give details. According to a Treasury spokeswoman, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has discussed options for the president's consideration on the issue.

Beijing praised the tempering of trade tensions with the U.S., stating that the agreement was in both countries' interests, while state media lauded that it was the government's refusal to bend to U.S. economic threats.