4 hours ago
Last Updated:May 13, 2025, 07:48 IST
In a week of intense diplomacy, Trump brokered ceasefires between India-Pakistan and US-Houthis, signed trade deals with China and UK,
US President Donald Trump (IMAGE: REUTERS file)
In a remarkable seven-day period of high-stakes diplomacy, US President Donald Trump has asserted his role in brokering two ceasefire agreements, signing two pivotal trade deals, and obtaining the release of an American hostage held by Hamas.
These accomplishments, achieved within a single week, are being interpreted as evidence of Trump’s negotiation prowess and international influence. However, Trump, who assumed office in November of the previous year, has not yet fulfilled his key campaign pledge from the 2024 US elections: ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Karoline Leavitt, Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary, conveyed Trump’s achievements over the past week on the social media platform X, adding that there is still significant work ahead and that the most favourable outcomes are yet to materialise.
1. US-China Trade Deal
In a significant move to ease months of escalating trade tensions, the United States and China have agreed to temporarily reduce tariffs on each other’s goods, according to a joint statement released in Geneva. This decision opens a 90-day window for the two largest economies to negotiate a more permanent solution to their ongoing trade dispute.
Under the agreement, the US will lower its combined 145% tariffs on most Chinese imports to 30% by May 14, including duties related to Chinese-origin fentanyl. In response, China will reduce its 125% tariffs on American products, signalling a shift away from the near-complete trade freeze of recent weeks.
President Trump praised the outcome as a “total reset" in US-China trade relations after the first round of high-level negotiations in Geneva. Saturday’s talks marked the first formal meeting between top US and Chinese trade officials since Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs last month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in what both sides described as “constructive" and “friendly" discussions.
Tariffs imposed by Washington earlier this year had driven total US duties on certain Chinese goods to as high as 245%, prompting China to respond with equally aggressive levies and deepening fears of a full-blown trade war.
The next three months will test whether both sides can turn this truce into a broader, lasting trade deal.
2. US Trade Deal With UK
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed a “historic" trade agreement on Thursday, marking Trump’s first trade deal since implementing extensive global tariffs. The agreement involves Washington reducing tariffs on British luxury cars and eliminating them on steel and aluminium while maintaining a 10 per cent baseline levy on British goods.
Announcing the deal in a phone call to Starmer from the Oval Office, Trump stated that Britain would, in return, open its markets to US beef and other agricultural products. Despite Trump’s praise of the deal as a model for future agreements with countries like China following his “Liberation Day" tariffs in April, the details remained limited.
3. Houthis Ceasefire
Trump has announced a halt to American airstrikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels following a ceasefire agreement where the group has pledged to stop disrupting key maritime shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The agreement was announced after Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday disabled Sanaa Airport.
The Iran-backed Huthis, who have controlled large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa since 2014, launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Gaza war.
Starting in November 2023, the Huthis expanded their campaign to strike vessels linked to Israel. After U.S. and British forces began retaliatory strikes in January 2024, the rebels also targeted ships connected to those nations. The American-led operation, codenamed “Rough Rider," reportedly struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen, resulting in around 300 deaths according to Huthi-provided figures.
Despite the ceasefire, a Huthi official told AFP that the group would continue targeting Israeli ships, narrowing their previous broader targeting of vessels with even minimal connections to Israel.
4. India-Pakistan Ceasefire
Trump has claimed to have brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan after the two nuclear-armed nations engaged in the conflict over the Pahalgam terror attack. India launched strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan, infamous for promoting and breeding terrorists, after the attack in Pahalgam where 26 people lost their lives. Islamabad made an unsuccessful retaliation attempt by targeting drone and missile attacks on Indian cities, leading to the escalation of the situation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in backchannel talks with Indian and Pakistan officials over the ceasefire. Trump announced the truce in a social media post on April 10.
“We helped a lot, and we also helped with trade. I said. Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it, let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’re doing trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade. People have never really used trade the way I used it. By that, I can tell you, and all of a sudden they said. I think we’re gonna stop, and they have," he said.
5. American Hostage Freed From Gaza
Edan Alexander, a dual US-Israeli national held captive by Hamas for over a year and a half, has been freed. Alexander, a soldier in the Israeli army, was taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel — an assault that left 1,218 people dead, mostly civilians, according to official figures compiled by AFP. He was released after 584 days in captivity, just before a regional visit by US President Donald Trump.
Hamas’s armed wing confirmed the handover, which Trump described as “monumental news" and a “good faith gesture" in a social media post on Sunday.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 2023 attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military believes are no longer alive. According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 2,749 people have been killed since the latest phase of the Israeli campaign began, bringing the total death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 52,862.
6. Executive Order To Slash Drug Prices
President Donald Trump signed an extensive executive order on Monday aimed at reducing prescription drug prices in the United States by addressing what he termed “unreasonable or discriminatory" practices by foreign countries that result in higher costs for Americans.
“Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries, which is what we were doing," Trump announced before signing the order, suggesting that it could reduce U.S. drug prices by up to 90%.
A key provision of the order requires pharmaceutical companies to offer American patients the lowest price charged for a drug in any comparable country, a concept known as “Most Favored Nation" (MFN) pricing. Trump warned that if drugmakers do not comply voluntarily, the federal government would intervene.
He directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to propose pricing benchmarks within 30 days.
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
First Published:News world A Week Of Trump's Big Wins: Ceasefires, Trade Deals & American Hostage Freedom
