U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday welcomed Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House, saying the two countries were close to finalizing a trade agreement.
“We’re going to talk about trade today and we are very close to finishing a trade deal, a big trade deal actually,” Trump told reporters at the start of his meeting with the Philippine leader.
Marcos is the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, but had been driving tough bargains in talks even with close allies Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with
China.
US-Philippines trade talks yield modest tariff shift after Trump-Marcos meeting
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