MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr meets US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally will secure a more favourable trade deal before an Aug 1 deadline.
Marcos will be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China.
“I expect our discussions to focus on security and defence, of course, but also on trade,” Marcos said in a speech before leaving Manila. “We will see how much progress we can make when it comes to the negotiations with the United States concerning the changes that we would like to institute to alleviate the effects of a very severe tariff schedule on the Philippines.”
The United States had a deficit of nearly US$5 billion with the Philippines last year on bilateral goods trade of US$23.5 billion. Trump this month raised the threatened “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from the Philippines to 20 per cent from 17 per cent threatened in April.
Although US allies in Asia such as Japan and South Korea have yet to strike trade deals with Trump, Gregory Poling, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Marcos might be able to do better than Vietnam, with its agreement of a 20 per cent baseline tariff on its goods, and Indonesia at 19 per cent.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement of a deal with the Philippines at a lower rate than those two,” Poling said.
Marcos, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, is due to hold talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday before meeting Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He will also meet US business leaders investing in the Philippines during his trip.
