The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is “business as usual” between Manila and Washington when it comes to trade relations, despite US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on America’s trading partners.
“For now, (it’s) business as usual. We feel that we will not be affected. We’re allies,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the Asia SME Forum 2025 in Pasay City on Thursday.
“And also our trade deficit with them is very minimal, so it’s not something that we can worry about for now,” she said, adding, “So we’ll just continue what we’re doing, look at the positive side and just continue to, you know, to grow and to really level up and to really find avenues for us to really excel at what we do.”
Most of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs with America’s trading partners are expected to take effect on April 2.
A Reuters report on March 27, 2025 said Asian auto stocks led markets lower on Thursday after Trump unveiled a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles.
New levies on cars and light trucks will take effect on April 3, the day after Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs aimed at the countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit. They come on top of duties already introduced on steel and aluminum, and on goods from Mexico, Canada and China.
Roque is requesting a meeting with her US counterpart to discuss Philippine trade relations with the US.
“Of course, there are so many people who want to meet with him, or so many countries that want to meet with him, but we’re already waiting for that schedule,” Roque said.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative estimated that US trade in goods with the Philippines amounted to $23.5 billion in 2024.
US exports to the Philippines last year reached $9.3 billion, up 0.4 percent from 2023.
US goods imports from the Philippines totaled $14.2 billion in 2024, up 6.9 percent in the year-earlier period.
The US trade in goods deficit with the Philippines stood at $4.9 billion in 2024, a 21.8 percent increase year-on-year.
