President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, who is looking to use his nation’s close ties to the United States to negotiate a better trade agreement, is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
Mr. Marcos will have lunch with Mr. Trump. The Trump administration only negotiated a few trade agreements, falling far short of its target of 90 treaties in 90 days by early July. According to the White House, it has so far struck framework deals with Vietnam, Indonesia, and Britain in addition to a trade truce that reduced tariffs with China.
As of August 1, Mr. Trump has threatened to impose greater tariffs on dozens of nations, including the Philippines, where he claimed a 20 percent charge would be applied. To further reduce those duties, a number of world leaders have been engaging with the Trump administration.
Mr. Marcos stated that ensuring robust trade between the two countries was his top priority prior to departing for the United States.
Pushing for further economic engagement, especially through trade and investment between the Philippines and the United States, is my main goal for this visit, he stated. I want to let President Trump and his cabinet know that the Philippines is prepared to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement that will guarantee solid, profitable, and forward-looking partnerships that can only be benefited by the United States and the Philippines.
According to a White House statement, Mr. Trump and Mr. Marcos’ conversation would center on their shared commitment to promoting shared economic prosperity and maintaining a free, open, prosperous, and safe Indo-Pacific.
According to the statement, the United States and the Philippines have a long history of friendship that dates back to the 80th anniversary of the joint sacrifice that resulted in World War II’s victory.
The oldest ally of the United States in the Pacific is the Philippines. After acquiring the Philippines as a colony from Spain in 1898, the United States fought Filipino rebels for control of the territory. Together, Americans and Filipinos fought to terminate Japan’s possession of the islands during World War II. After gaining independence from the US in 1946, the Philippines and the US signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951 that is still in force today.
Although it is a small percentage of other Southeast Asian nations, the United States has a trade deficit with the Philippines. For this reason, Mr. Trump chose to impose a lower duty on the Philippines than on many of its neighbors, as he sees the trade gap as proof of an unequal trading relationship.
The South China Sea is one of the busiest maritime channels in the world, and the US is still interested in preserving freedom of navigation there.
In contrast to his predecessor’s shift toward China, Mr. Marcos has embraced the United States and increased American access to military installations.
As part of cooperative military exercises, the United States has sent a Typhon missile system to the Philippines. The cruise missiles fired by the ground-based launcher can travel from the Philippines to the Chinese mainland.
On Monday, Mr. Marcos met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon after arriving in Washington on Sunday.
Mr. Marcos told Mr. Hegseth, “I think that our alliance—the United States and the Philippines—has played a significant role in maintaining the peace and stability of the South China Sea.”
He has also discussed investment in the Philippines with corporate executives in the United States.
Swanson, Anacontributed to the reporting.
