MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country’s trade deal with the United States, which resulted in a tariff rate of 19% on the country’s exports to America, was a “significant achievement.”
“One percent might seem like a very small concession. However, when you put it in real terms, it is a significant achievement,” Marcos told reporters while on an official visit to Washington.
The new tariff rate is just below the 20% threatened by Trump earlier this month, but still above the 17% rate set in April when Trump announced what he called ‘reciprocal tariff’ rates for dozens of countries. It matches the 19% rate announced for Indonesia and is just below Vietnam’s 20% rate.
READ: US-Philippines trade talks yield modest tariff shift after Trump-Marcos meeting
—Reporting by Mikhail Flores and Karen Lema