JUST IN: President Trump Announces New Trade Deal

President Trump announced a trade deal Tuesday with the Philippines.

“President Ferdinand Marcos, of the Philippines, is just leaving the White House, with all of his many Representatives. It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff. In addition, we will work together Militarily,” Trump said.

“It was a Great Honor to be with the President. He is Highly Respected in his Country, as he should be. He is also a very good, and tough, negotiator. We extend our warmest regards to the wonderful people of The Philippines!” he added.

More from Fox Business:

During their meeting in the Oval Office, Trump and Marcos Jr. were asked how the Philippines would balance its relationship with the United States and China. Trump noted that he has been invited to China by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, adding, “I don’t mind if he gets along with China because we’re getting along with China very well.”

“We need to do this with our partners. And again, our strongest partner is, has always been the United States. But of course we are. We are trying to form coalitions and multilateral relations,” Marcos Jr. added.

A reporter also asked whether hosting U.S. missiles in the Philippines would be considered “escalatory” by China.

“We’re gonna have a very good relationship,” Trump said of the U.S. and the Philippines. “I know you had some problems with another president, and it was not your fault. It was the president’s fault, and the country was maybe tilting toward toward China. But we untilted did it very, very quickly. But, you know, you did have you had a country that was tilting toward China for a period of time. And I just don’t think that would have been good for you. You could deal with China. We should deal with China. But when I got elected, everything changed and they came right back to us.”

Marcos Jr. said the U.S. missiles came as part of the “modernization” of the Philippines’ military.

Footage showed Trump welcoming Marcos Jr. to the White House:

President Donald J. Trump Welcomes Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House @BongbongMarcos pic.twitter.com/dvau9xdvx2

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 22, 2025

President Donald J. Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. @BongbongMarcos pic.twitter.com/lYSCFEuRkS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 22, 2025

“Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States,” Marcos Jr. said.

Check it out:

Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.: “Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States.” pic.twitter.com/n7pNACFuEv

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 22, 2025

CNN added further info:

Earlier Tuesday in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was not ready to make a trade deal with Marcos because “he’s negotiating too tough.” But he said they’d “probably agree to something.”

The agreement is somewhat unusual given that other countries Trump claims to have reached agreements with call for lower tariff rates compared to levels the president threatened to impose in April. Meanwhile, goods from the Philippines were charged a minimum 17% “reciprocal” tariff in April before Trump paused those. Earlier this month, he threatened a 20% tariff on goods from the Philippines as of August 1.

The US imported $14 billion worth of goods from the Philippines last year, according to data from the US Commerce Department. Top goods shipped from there include computers and other electronics, processed foods, machinery and apparel. Meanwhile, the US exported $9 billion worth of Filipino goods. Computers and other electronics, as well as processed foods, were also among the top goods the US shipped there.