Marcos secures trade deal with Trump – but tariffs only drop 1 percentage point
'It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% tariff,' Trump said, announcing the cut on his social media account.
The deal has not yet been confirmed by Manila. Marcos left the White House without making any public remarks about a deal. No joint statement from the leaders' meeting has been issued yet by either side.
Securing a favourable trade deal to shield Philippine exports from the looming economic blow was Marcos' top agenda item for the visit as he aimed to leverage the decades-old security ties to get a tariff discount.
Trump in his post emphasised that in addition to the trade deal, the two countries 'will work together militarily', while lauding Marcos as a 'tough' negotiator.
The US trade deficit with the Philippines widened to US$4.9 billion in 2024, a 21.8 per cent jump from 2023.
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