Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, the first visit by a Southeast Asian leader since Trump’s inauguration six months ago.
Marcos Jr. appears to have a rapport with Trump, which may have helped him ink a trade deal of his own. Trump took to social media to announce the agreement, stating that a 19 per cent tariff will apply to Philippine goods while U.S. goods will enter the country “tariff-free.” Trump previously indicated that, if a deal wasn’t reached by August 1, a 20 per cent tariff would apply to Philippine goods.
Marcos Jr. also met with business executives in Washington, including several from the semiconductor industry. Semiconductors account for 56.6 per cent of the Philippines' total exports.
The odd one in
Contrasting with the experiences of most countries, the White House seems to be warming — relatively speaking — to the Philippines.
On Tuesday, Trump called the Philippines “a very important nation, militarily,” and pointed to “great” recent drills with the country (e.g. the Balikatan exercise in May). Washington is also set to build small‑boat facilities in the Philippines to support operations in the South China Sea.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who also met with Marcos Jr., said that "our storied alliance has never been stronger or more essential than it is today.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed these remarks.
During a call in July, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Marcos Jr. to visit Canada. Negotiations towards a Canada-Philippines free trade agreement are expected to begin soon.
