This week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will meet the U.S. President Donald Trump to secure a better trade between two nations.
Although the two nations have a good relationship, the U.S. still had a trade deficit worth about $5 billion with the Philippines last year, while the U.S. planned to impose a 20% tariff on this Southeast Asian nation in early August, a 3 percentage point increase from April’s announcement of 17%.
Marcos, who has been in the U.S. since yesterday, will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today before meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump tomorrow. It is expected that both leaders and their representatives will be discussing several key topics, including trade.
Gregory Poling, an expert from Center for Strategic and International Studies, speculated that the Philippine President may secure a good deal, better than Vietnam and Indonesia, countries that Trump lowered the tariff rates to 20% and 19%, respectively.
Marcos is also expected to discuss security and defense as the Philippines is the U.S.’ essential partner in the Indo-Pacific region. The nation even allows the U.S. to access its military bases to act as a deterrent on China’s advance towards Taiwan.
The two nations have a long mutual defense treaty and conducted several military exercises. Poling stated that their views on China are almost the same. It is evident that the Trump Administration wants the Philippines’ officials to be the first from Southeast Asia they officially met.
