Philippines’ Marcos to meet Trump hoping to secure trade deal

WASHINGTON/MANILA - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will be meeting 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.

Mr Marcos will be the first South-east Asian leader to meet Mr Trump in his second term.

Mr 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,” Mr 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 US had a deficit of nearly US$5 billion (S$6.4 billion) with the Philippines in 2024 on bilateral goods trade of US$23.5 billion.

Mr Trump in July 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 Mr Trump, Mr Gregory Poling, a South-east Asia expert at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Mr 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,” Mr Poling said.

Mr Marcos, who arrived in Washington on July 20, is due to hold talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on July 21 before meeting Mr Trump at the White House on July 22. He will also meet US business leaders investing in the Philippines during his trip.

“Mutually beneficial” deal

Philippine officials say Mr 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 partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific.

Philippine Assistant Foreign Secretary Raquel Solano said last week trade officials have been working with US counterparts seeking to seal a “mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial” deal for both countries.

Mr Trump and Mr Marcos will also discuss defence and security, and Ms Solano said the Philippine President would be looking to further strengthen the longstanding defence alliance.

With the Philippines facing intense pressure from China in the contested South China Sea, Mr Marcos has pivoted closer to the US, expanding its access to Philippine military bases amid China's threats towards Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by Beijing.

The US and the Philippines have a seven-decade-old mutual defence 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, Mr Poling said, and it is notable that Mr Rubio and Mr Hegseth made sure their Philippine counterparts were the first South-east Asian officials they met.

Mr Poling said Mr Trump also seemed to have a certain warmth towards Mr Marcos, based on their phone call after the election. REUTERS