A vague agreement by the US and China to continue talking and try to reduce the trade imbalance between the world’s two largest economies has put off the launch of a trade war and may eventually result in a broader peace. But it has also provoked an angry response from hardliners on both sides, illustrating how difficult any peace will be to achieve.

Both sides at the weekend agreed to suspend tariffs and continue negotiations over what US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin called a “framework” deal that would see Beijing ramp up its purchase of US goods and services and commit to reducing the US’s $337bn annual trade deficit with China.

Yet in the US that has fuelled fears among China hawks that the Trump administration may be giving up the leverage it created by threatening tariffs on up to $150bn in Chinese imports earlier this year and sacrificing a broader push for change in China.