Trump announces trade deal with the Philippines with 19% tariffs

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday 22 a trade agreement with the Philippines to apply 19% tariffs on products originating from the archipelago, instead of the 20% he had threatened the country with.

The Philippines is among dozens of nations to which Trump sent letters this month warning of new tariffs starting August 1.

The 19% rate is higher than the 17% that the Asian country had been threatened with in April, when Trump announced tariffs that were later frozen to allow negotiations on a case-by-case basis.

"It was a beautiful visit and we concluded our trade agreement, which moves the Philippines toward an OPEN MARKET with the United States," Trump said on his Truth Social platform after welcoming his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos, to the White House.

Washington imposes tariffs on the country despite increasingly close defense relations between the United States and the Philippines, a former American territory that was once a Spanish colony.

During the term of Trump's predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, the United States deployed missiles to the Philippines last year.

Washington is also eyeing munitions manufacturing in the Philippines, despite the 1992 closure of the US naval base at Subic Bay due to strong public pressure.

"Everything we consider part of the modernization of the Philippine Armed Forces is really a response to the circumstances surrounding the situation in the South China Sea," Marcos said alongside Trump.

“We are primarily concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights,” he added.

When asked about relations with China, the American president once again praised his "good relationship" with President Xi Jinping and said he would travel to China in the "very near" future.

Manila and Washington have been bound by a mutual defense treaty since 1951 and often conduct joint military exercises in the South China Sea, in areas claimed by Beijing.

The two allies have strengthened their cooperation since Marcos came to power in 2022.