Philippine President Marcos to meet Trump, seeking trade deal
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 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."
The United States had a deficit of nearly $5 billion with the Philippines last year on bilateral goods trade of $23.5 billion. Trump this month raised the threatened "reciprocal" tariffs on imports from the Philippines to 20% from the 17% threatened in April.
Although U.S. 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% baseline tariff on its goods, and Indonesia at 19%.
"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, went to the Pentagon on Monday morning for talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and will see Secretary of State Marco Rubio later in the day, before meeting Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He will also meet U.S. business leaders investing in the Philippines.
Philippine officials say Marcos' focus will be on economic cooperation and Manila's concerns about the tariffs. They say he will stress that Manila must become economically stronger if it is to serve as a truly robust U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific.
Philippine Assistant Foreign Secretary Raquel Solano said last week trade officials have been working with U.S. counterparts seeking to seal a "mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial" deal for both countries.
Trump and Marcos will also discuss defense and security, and Solano said the Philippine president would be looking to further strengthen the longstanding defense alliance.
Philippine media quoted Manila's ambassador to Washington, Jose Manuel Romualdez, as saying on Sunday that the visit would see a reaffirmation of the seven-decade-old mutual defense treaty and "discussions on how we can continue to cooperate with the United States, our major ally."
With the Philippines facing intense pressure from China in the contested South China Sea, Marcos has pivoted closer to the U.S., expanding access to Philippine military bases amid China's threats toward Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by Beijing.
The United States and the Philippines hold dozens of annual exercises, which have included training with the U.S. Typhon missile system, and more recently with the NMESIS anti-ship missile system, angering China.
Manila and the U.S. have closely aligned their views on China, Poling said, and it was 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 phone call after Trump's reelection.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Diplomat
an hour ago
- The Diplomat
The Philippines-US Relationship Is Tested as President Marcos Visits Washington
A shift in the policy mix between economic and security components would be beneficial to U.S. interests and regional stability. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is currently on a three-day visit to Washington D.C., which began with his arrival on July 20. The trip comes during a time of churn in the U.S. relationship with the Philippines, as with other Southeast Asian states. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies have caused much concern in Manila, even as the Philippines, with China on its mind, continues to deepen its security cooperation with United States. A sound, long-term relationship between these two allies will be difficult to maintain unless the alliance gets its security and economic mix right. This week's meetings are critical for the two sides to close their gap. The slew of tariffs unleashed by the Trump administration against its allies and partners did not spare the Philippines. In fact, the initial tariff of 17 percent announced in April was recently raised to 20 percent. Manila is more than concerned, especially as its fellow ASEAN states Indonesia and Vietnam succeeded in lowering their initial tariffs significantly (albeit to similar levels as the Philippines – 19 percent and 20 percent, respectively) in deals with Washington. Meanwhile the Luzon Economic Corridor, a major U.S.-backed project of new investments in connectivity and infrastructure in the Philippines, has made little progress despite being announced more than a year ago. Soon after being elected, Marcos made a major U-turn in Philippine foreign policy, turning away from his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte's antipathy toward the United States. Manila is justifiably mystified as to why it should face the same tariff wrath as its non-aligned ASEAN neighbors, when it has done much more to align with U.S. strategies to counter China. Meanwhile, China's expansive claims in the South China Sea (ruled illegal in 2016 by an international tribunal) and coercive maritime behavior remain a challenge for the alliance. China's intrusive behavior has seen a sharp uptick since late 2023, and has continued essentially unabated this year. Moreover, Marcos himself is politically weaker today than he was a year ago after his fallout with the powerful Duterte dynasty and setbacks in the recent mid-term elections. The return of the Dutertes is a distinct possibility in the 2028 election, with the former president's daughter and current Vice President Sara Duterte, topping early polls. An economic win will help bolster Marcus politically at home and help improve the prospects for a more U.S.-friendly successor in 2028. The Trump administration correctly aims to shift some of the burden of mutual defense to its Asian allies, including the Philippines, to save money and keep direct exposure of U.S. troops at a lower level in the South China Sea. This implies greater defense spending by Manila, but also more U.S. support for Philippine capabilities to counter Chinese gray zone tactics in the South China Sea. Some of this is indeed happening – including help for Philippine base upgrades and projects such as the recently announced boat repair facility in Palawan, located near the flashpoint of Second Thomas Shoal. However, some U.S. actions are escalatory. The most dangerous development is the alliance creep toward the Taiwan theater. New U.S. military sites have mostly been located close to the Bashi Channel that separates the main Philippine island of Luzon from Taiwan, and far from the South China Sea. Washington has also deployed major war-fighting missile systems to Luzon that can strike at targets deep in the Chinese mainland. Countering China's gray zone tactics in the escalatory war-fighting plane, and especially as part of a plan for a Taiwan contingency, is a bad idea. As a recent Quincy Institute Brief argued, defending, not provoking, ought to be the guiding principle for Washington. Dropping the ball on the bilateral economic relationship only makes matters worse. An ideal policy mix would involve strong U.S. support for enhancing Manila's capacities to counter Chinese tactics in the South China Sea, a high degree of caution on any Philippine involvement in a Taiwan conflict, and energizing, rather than damaging, trade and investment ties between the two allies. Thus, the United States should continue to support the Philippines diplomatically and aim to bolster its maritime capacities and maritime domain awareness. It should also actualize economic initiatives such as the Luzon Economic Corridor as soon as possible. A strategy of non-escalatory balancing by mainly strengthening Philippine capacities in all dimensions is far safer than accelerating bloc formation and expanding U.S. military deployments. A focus along these lines in this week's meetings could strengthen the alliance for the long haul. Ultimately the rise of economically capable and autonomous middle powers in Asia is the surest way to both reduce a frontal U.S. military role and achieve a stable and sustainable region. Such a nuanced strategy can help check Beijing's worst tendencies – but also limit risk-taking by Washington and other Asian states. The Philippines-U.S. alliance could be an exemplar of this approach if both allies want it to be so.
The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
Trump administration releases FBI records on MLK Jr. despite his family's opposition
The Trump administration has released records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from the slain Nobel laureate's family and the civil rights group that he led until his 1968 assassination. The digital document dump includes more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977, when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. In a lengthy statement released Monday, King's two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said their father's assassination has been a "captivating public curiosity for decades." But the pair emphasized the personal nature of the matter, urging that "these files must be viewed within their full historical context." The Kings got advance access to the records and had their own teams reviewing them. Those efforts continued even as the government granted public access. It was not immediately clear Monday whether the documents would shed any new light on King's life, the Civil Rights Movement or his murder. "As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief -- a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met -- an absence our family has endured for over 57 years," they wrote. "We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family's continuing grief." They also repeated the family's long-held contention that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of assassinating King, was not solely responsible, if at all. Bernice King was 5-years old when her father was killed at the age of 39. Martin III was 10. A statement from the office of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called the disclosure "unprecedented" and said many of the records had been digitized for the first time. She praised President Donald Trump for pushing the issue. Release is 'transparency' to some, a 'distraction' for others Trump promised as a candidate to release files related to President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. When Trump took office in January, he signed an executive order to declassify the JFK records, along with those associated with Robert F. Kennedy's and MLK's 1968 assassinations. The government unsealed the JFK records in March and disclosed some RFK files in April. The announcement from Gabbard's office included a statement from Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, who is an outspoken conservative and has broken from King's children on various topics -- including the FBI files. Alveda King said she was "grateful to President Trump" for his "transparency." Separately, Attorney General Pam Bondi's social media account featured a picture of the attorney general with Alveda King. Besides fulfilling Trump's order, the latest release means another alternative headline for the president as he tries to mollify supporters angry over his administration's handling of records concerning the sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself behind bars while awaiting trial in 2019, during Trump's first presidency. Trump last Friday ordered the Justice Department to release grand jury testimony but stopped short of unsealing the entire case file. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III did not mention Trump in their statement Monday. Some civil rights activists were not so sparing. "Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. "It's a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base." The King Center, founded by King's widow and now led by Bernice King, reacted separately from what Bernice said jointly with her brother. The King Center statement framed the release as a distraction -- but from more than short-term political controversy. "It is unfortunate and ill-timed, given the myriad of pressing issues and injustices affecting the United States and the global society," the King Center, linking those challenges to MLK's efforts. "This righteous work should be our collective response to renewed attention on the assassination of a great purveyor of true peace." Records mean a new trove of research material The King records were initially intended to be sealed until 2027, until Justice Department attorneys asked a federal judge to lift the sealing order early. Scholars, history buffs and journalists have been preparing to study the documents for new information about his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King co-founded in 1957 as the Civil Rights Movement blossomed, opposed the release. The group, along with King's family, argued that the FBI illegally surveilled King and other civil rights figures, hoping to discredit them and their movement. It has long been established that then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was intensely interested if not obsessed with King and others he considered radicals. FBI records released previously show how Hoover's bureau wiretapped King's telephone lines, bugged his hotel rooms and used informants to gather information, including evidence of King's extramarital affairs. "He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," the King children said in their statement. "The intent ... was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King's reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement," they continued. "These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth -- undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo." The Kings said they "support transparency and historical accountability" but "object to any attacks on our father's legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods." Opposition to King intensified even after the Civil Rights Movement compelled Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson to enact the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Voting Right Act of 1965. After those victories, King turned his attention to economic justice and international peace. He was an outspoken critic of rapacious capitalism and the Vietnam War. King argued that political rights alone were not enough to ensure a just society. Many establishment figures like Hoover viewed King as a communist threat. King's children still don't accept the original explanation of assassination King was assassinated as he was aiding striking sanitation workers in Memphis, part of his explicit turn toward economic justice. Ray plead guilty to King's murder. Ray later renounced that plea and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998. Members of King's family, and others, have long questioned whether Ray acted alone, or if he was even involved. Coretta Scott King asked for the probe to be reopened, and in 1998, then-Attorney General Janet Reno directed the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to take a new look. Reno's department said it "found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King." In their latest statement, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III repeated their assertions that Ray was set up. They pointed to a 1999 civil case, brought by the King family, in which a Memphis jury concluded that Martin Luther King Jr. had been the target of a conspiracy. "As we review these newly released files," the Kings said, "we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted."(AP)
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Ishiba's weakened mandate complicates US trade and defense plans: analysts
U.S. President Donald Trump watches Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 7. © Reuters KEN MORIYASU WASHINGTON -- The U.S.-Japan alliance has entered a period of uncertainty, American think tank analysts say, after Sunday's upper house Diet election resulted in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party having lost its majority in both legislative chambers for the first time since its founding in 1955. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, after losing two consecutive national elections, faces heavy criticism from LDP lawmakers over his decision to continue as Japan's leader. Complicating the matter further is that opposition parties have not offered clear strategies for dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump.
