Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week.
Marcos would 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 defense, 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.”
Photo: EPA
The US 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 percent from 17 percent 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 percent baseline tariff on its goods, and Indonesia at 19 percent.
“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, was due to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth yesterday, before meeting Trump at the White House today. He was also to meet US business leaders investing in the Philippines during his trip.
Philippine officials said Marcos’ focus would be on economic cooperation and Manila’s concerns about the tariffs. They said he would stress that Manila must become economically stronger if it is to serve as a truly robust partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
Philippine Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs Raquel Solano last week said that trade officials have been working with their US counterparts seeking to seal a “mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial” deal for both nations.
Trump and Marcos are also to discuss defense and security, and Solano said the Philippine president would be looking to further strengthen the longstanding defense alliance.
With the Philippines facing intense pressure from China in the contested South China Sea, Marcos has pivoted closer to the US, expanding its access to Philippine military bases amid China’s threats toward Taiwan.
The US and the Philippines have a seven-decade-old mutual defense treaty and hold dozens of annual exercises, which have included training with the US Typhon missile system, and more recently with the NMESIS anti-ship missile system, angering China.
Manila and the US have closely aligned their views on China, Poling said, and it is notable that Rubio and Hegseth made sure their Philippine counterparts were the first Southeast Asian officials they met.
Poling said Trump also seemed to have a certain warmth toward Marcos, based on their telephone call after Trump was elected.
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