Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will meet his US counterpart Donald Trump for high-stakes talks on Tuesday that analysts say could see him trade military access and mineral rights for a lower tariff on his country’s exports.
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“I intend to convey to President Trump and his cabinet officials that the Philippines is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade deal that will ensure strong, mutually beneficial, and future-oriented collaborations that only the United States and the Philippines will be able to take advantage of,” Marcos Jnr said before departing for Washington on Sunday.
He added that his “top priority for this visit is to push for greater economic engagement, particularly through trade and investment between the Philippines and the United States”.
Marcos is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House following discussions with Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday.
The agenda was hinted at on July 10, when US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said potential deals included private sector investment in the Luzon Economic Corridor, an agreement on “the Philippines’ wealth in critical minerals” and “trilateral cooperation in the Philippines on cybersecurity, energy [including nuclear energy] and investments in reliable and secure telecommunications networks”.
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The Philippines could end up granting the US more access to military facilities under their Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), as well as offering favourable terms on mining concessions, potentially including rare earth minerals, analysts told This Week in Asia.