There is a "reality TV" and there is a reality.
Reality TV: The U.S. side in recent days advanced ideas that China agrteed to some $200B in deficit reductions. Now the U.S. side says that China agreed to "substantial reductions in trade gap" — in other words, it means whatever you want it to mean. "Details" to be worked out "later" or as they say "we don't need any stinking details" — take it as a "win"
Reality: Chinese strenuously denied that they agreed to specific targets nor could they, really. Outside of military, national security and specific G2G / government-to-government "strategic deals" (like energy. minerals or water), the countries don't really buy much from other countries — the "trade deficits" (i.e., current account deficits) are mostly private transactions between private businesses and are dicated by basic supply and demand — simple capitalistic formula, known well before Adam Smith described it in "The Wealth of Nations".
So here is the Chinese version of the "deal": China Will 'Significantly' Boost U.S. Purchases. By How Much is the Question : China will "significantly increase purchases" of U.S. goods, the White House said as Beijing's special envoy at talks in Washington declared a trade war has been averted between the world's two largest economies. ..... Vice Premier Liu He, a special envoy of China's President Xi Jinping, told reporters in Washington that talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer ended with a pledge not to engage in a trade war, according to a Xinhua news agency report. ..... Liu said both sides agreed to stop "slapping tariffs" on each other and called his visit "positive, pragmatic, constructive and productive," Xinhua reported. Cooperation will be enhanced in such areas as energy, agriculture, health care, high-tech products and finance, a "win-win" choice for both nations. ..... < snip > ..... "Investors had been fretting," Oliver said. "U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing and services companies with significant exposure to exports to China will be key beneficiaries. But it's also a big positive across Asia given supply chain linkages to Chinese companies that ultimately export to the U.S." ..... < snip >
To translate, that's the diplo-speak for the fact that nothing has changed from before the "trade wars are good and easy to win" entered the picture. e.g., see In a landmark for Trump, South Korea agrees to open its auto market - FR, post #11, 2018 March 26.
Chinese (and other governments' politicos) are pretty good at the "Art of the deal" and the "Art of the 'Talk'" and the "Art of bamboozle." Trump administration gets to save face because everybody understood that slapping tariffs on China would lead to retaliation (see for example soybeans and "sorghum trade" that went to other countries after several ships from the U.S. were turned around in April when China abruptly cancelled the order and arranged to buy the same from Russia, and short time later agreed to buying more of Russian oil and gas / energy at the expense of the U.S. trade).
So the drama is over and everybody can claim a "win" — yaay!
Refs:
Report: Ships carrying US sorghum stuck at sea after China imposes tariffs - TheHill, by John Bowden, 2018 April 20
Trump asks China to slash trade deficit $200B by 2020 - TheHill, by John Bowden, 2018 May 04 ..... "China will never trade off its core interests," added Hu Xijin, the chief editor of the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times. ..... ..... "The U.S. demand of cutting the trade gap is baseless, and can't be done by the Chinese government," said He Weiwen, the former commerce ministry official. "It's at least good the two sides decided to keep talking, though one can't rule out the possibility of a trade war."
"When it comes to negotiations, both sides can provide a list of requests and we will seek common ground while reserving our differences," a professor at a Chinese university specializing in economics told the AP. "If one side provides a list with unreasonable requests, the Chinese government is unable to accept it." .....
Trump's Tariff Hammer Won't Hit China's IP Nail - Bloomberg, by Tim Culpan, 2018 March 22
ZTE Folly May Spur Chinese Chip Push - Bloomberg, by Tim Culpan, 2018 April 17
* Trump's confrontational trade stance is just boomeranging back to imperil U.S. | Tension is just reinforcing macro flows that lead to wider U.S. trade deficit - MW, by Gregg Robb, 2018 May 19
With the increased uncertainty from trade disputes, even more money will flow into the haven of U.S. assets. With so much money pouring in from overseas, the U.S. capital account is forced into surplus. And given that the capital account and current account must balance out, the U.S. inevitably runs a trade deficit ..... ..... Targeted tariffs might narrow a bilateral balance with China, but that won't necessarily fix the broader trade deficit ..... ..... There is also the opposite risk — that the trade tensions upset U.S. relations with key partners just when the U.S. economy needs foreign capital to fund its spending spree. < snip > With the ... rising budget deficit, the U.S. is relying more on foreign money flows to pay our bills.
** The U.S. is almost guaranteed to have large trade deficits year after year | A low savings rate makes shrinking the trade gap much harder - MW, by Rex Nutting, 2018 March 12
..... Trump's simplistic answer ignores a structural imbalance in the U.S. economy that practically guarantees a large trade deficit year after year. I'm talking about the chronic lack of savings in the United States, which forces us to either cut back our investments in the future or else borrow hundreds of billions of dollars from foreigners. ..... < snip > ..... However, businesses don't invest to be patriotic; they do it to make money. So far, businesses are hopeful, but cautious about capital spending. ..... < snip > < snip > ..... Trump seems to believe that the deficit is the result of other countries taking advantage of the U.S. by dumping their underpriced goods on us. All the U.S. needs to do to reduce the trade deficit down to zero (he says) is to rewrite the trade rules. It's just a matter of leveling the playing field so that the United States sells just as much (or more) to China, Mexico, Canada and Europe as they sell to us. ..... < snip >
Meanwhile...
*** Merkel to Seek China as Free-Trade Ally on Beijing Trip - BL, by Sarah Syed, 2018 May 19
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she'll renew efforts to enlist China as an ally on free trade when she visits leaders including President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week. ..... < snip >