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Did Philippines get low Trump tariffs, ‘exemptions’, from quiet talks?
A former lawmaker says quiet negotiations enabled Manila to reduce the overall impact of its tariff rate from 19 per cent to just over 6 per cent
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The Philippines has quietly secured tariff exemptions that sharply reduce the impact of US President Donald Trump’s 19 per cent import levy – cutting the effective rate on its exports to just over 6 per cent, according to a former senior lawmaker.
The exemptions follow President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s state visit to Washington last week, where Trump announced that the Philippines would face a 19 per cent tariff rate. This is down from the 20 per cent he had previously threatened, but still higher than the 17 per cent he originally included under an executive order in April.
Trump hailed the deal as a win and praised Marcos as a “very good and tough negotiator”, while Philippine officials noted that further discussions were ongoing to clarify and potentially revise the terms.
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According to Joey Salceda, former chair of the Philippine House of Representatives’ ways and means committee, Marcos’ trip helped secure and expand key exemptions embedded in Annex II of Trump’s executive order – particularly for electronics and semiconductors.
Salceda said the resulting “effective rate” now stood at around 6.33 per cent – the second lowest in Asia, behind only Malaysia, which was exempted on oil.
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Speaking at a news forum on Saturday, Salceda stated that Philippine negotiators had been quietly engaging with their American counterparts even before the executive order was issued, with discussions continuing in the lead-up to, during, and after the Marcos visit.
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