President Donald Trump's administration plans to temporarily reduce tariffs on hundreds of Chinese products that Trump had previously slapped with duties – perhaps the clearest sign yet that tensions are easing in a trade war that has for months engulfed the world's two largest economies.

A trio of documents published Friday by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's office outlined more than 400 individual items that would be temporarily exempt from some of Trump's recent tariff tranches. The documents indicate domestic companies and parties of interest had filed for many of the exemptions and that Lighthizer's office had decided to grant those requests.

Among the list of exempted items are Christmas tree lights, water filters, pet supplies, remotes for gas fireplaces and anesthesia masks. The news comes the same week a group of Chinese trade deputies traveled to Washington to discuss a possible long-term commerce arrangement. The series of meetings between U.S. and Chinese trade officials is considered to be a precursor to a larger and more formal series of meetings scheduled for next month.

"I think this week is very important. It's like the point guards are in town to set it up for the principals. The principals are the forwards here," Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday during an interview with CNBC's " Closing Bell ," referring to the October meetings between Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and their Chinese counterparts.

The exemptions represent the latest chapter in a string of de-escalatory announcements following months of back-and-forth tariff implementation between the U.S. and China. Just last week, China agreed to ease barriers on U.S. agricultural exports, while Trump's administration decided to delay the implementation of their latest round of tariffs until mid-October – which was ostensibly carried out as a sign of respect for the upcoming 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

But the move also offers the Trump administration a contingency plan in the event that the October meetings in Washington do not go well. The newly announced tariff exemptions are a sign of progress, but additional tariff threats still loom. And Trump's trade advisers are still threatening to ramp tensions back up if negotiations start to go south.

Michael Pillsbury, a senior fellow and director for Chiense strategy at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank, told the South China Morning Post on Thursday that tariffs could be sharply escalated "to 50% or 100%," suggesting that the president is not "just bluffing" about his willingness to penalize China for perceived trade malpractice.

Analysts and spectators around the world will anxiously await further details of the discussions between U.S. and Chinese trade executives during the weeks ahead, as the trade war between the world's two largest economic players has thrown international markets into a frenzy.