听力原文

Officials on two sides of the Pacific Ocean have put the brakes on a trade dispute between the United States and China. These two countries have the two largest economies on the planet. They trade an incredible amount of goods with each other.

But last year, the U.S. sold $130 billion worth of goods to China and bought $506 billion in goods from China. And that deficit, that difference is something that’s angered the Trump administration, which wants trade to be more level between the countries. So, the U.S. put tariffs or taxes on certain imports from China, and China retaliated with tariffs of its own on the U.S.

Trade analysts were worried that this could lead to a trade war, when both sides try to hurt each other’s economy through increased tariffs which can lead to increased prices. But now, the United States and China are saying they are trying to work things out.

China plans to significantly increase what it buys in U.S. goods and services. That was a main demand of the Trump administration. And both sides say they’re not going to put any new tariffs on one another while they hold talks to form a new trade agreement.

They’re still some major issues that haven’t been resolved yet. For example, exactly how much more China plans to buy from the U.S. There’s been some conflicting information on that.

And critics say their promise to work together more closely isn’t specific enough to guarantee things will get better. But at least tensions have eased while the talks are going on.