Philippine President Marcos hails the trade deal with the US as ‘a significant achievement’.
The United States has reached a trade deal with the Philippines, President Donald Trump has announced, charging the country a 19 percent tariff rate on goods it exports to the US, while US goods will pay zero tariffs.
Trump announced the new agreement on Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social shortly after his meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the White House.
“We concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States,” Trump said.
The new tariff rate is just below the 20 percent threatened by Trump earlier this month, but above the 17 percent set in April when Trump announced what he called reciprocal tariff rates for dozens of countries. It matches the 19 percent rate announced for Indonesia and bests Vietnam’s slightly higher rate of 20 percent.
The US had a deficit of nearly $5bn with the Philippines last year on bilateral goods trade of $23.5bn.
Marcos hailed the deal with the US. “One percent might seem like a very small concession. However, when you put it in real terms, it is a significant achievement,” he told reporters in Washington, DC.
Earlier, Marcos, who is the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term, told reporters at the start of the meeting that the US was his country’s “strongest, closest, most reliable ally”.
Trump said the two Pacific allies would also work together militarily but gave no details.
Philippine Assistant Foreign Secretary Raquel Solano said last week that trade officials have been working with US counterparts seeking to seal a “mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial” deal.
Protesters gathered near the White House as Marcos arrived, demanding that the Philippine leader address the pleas of Filipino Americans and immigrant workers who have made multiple requests for support amid US immigration raids.
Trump underscored the importance of the US-Philippine military relationship, saying, “They’re a very important nation militarily, and we’ve had some great drills lately.”
Marcos, who arrived in Washington, DC, on Sunday, met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. During his trip, he will also meet US business leaders investing in the Philippines. Philippine officials say Marcos planned to stress that Manila must become economically stronger if it is to serve as a truly robust partner to the US in the Asia Pacific region.
Looming pressure on China
During the Oval Office event, Trump said he may visit China for a landmark trip “in the not-too-distant future” and noted the Philippines had distanced itself from Beijing after his election last November.
“The country was maybe tilting toward China, but we un-tilted it very, very quickly,” Trump said.
The US president has sought to lower tensions with Beijing in recent weeks after pausing a tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday he would meet Chinese officials in Sweden next week.
