Trump 2.0 net positive for PH-US trade relations – BOI

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The head of the country’s premier investment promotions agency said a Trump 2.0 is net positive for the Philippines and could signal the revival of talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US.

“… President Trump during his first administration, was actually the only recent US president that welcomed a bilateral FTA with the Philippines. He did this in 2017 when he came here for the Asean Summit and he issued, together with our president, a joint statement saying that the US welcomes a bilateral free trade,” Ceferino Rodolfo, Board of Investments (BOI) managing head, said in his speech at the launch of the “Doing Business in the Philippines” guidebook in Makati City on Thursday.

The Biden administration had been “so cautious in terms of treating our proposals for a bilateral FTA agreement, so cautious that they would not even want to be reflected on the Asean Summit, “Rodolfo said.

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“For President Biden, it was so difficult to even have a watered-down statement that would say that the US knows the Philippines‘interest in a bilateral free trade agreement,” the BOI official said. 

One of the reasons President Biden was very hesitant to make an announcement for a Philippines-US bilateral free trade agreement deal was that the Democrats did not control Congress at the time, he said.

“They didn ‘t have a trade promotion authority mandating to negotiate an FTA with anyone. But it’s a different story with President Trump … as the Republicans now control both houses,” he added.

The US trade representative during the first Trump administration, Robert Lighthizer, testified in 2019 before the US Congress that they are looking at the Philippines-US FTA as a good first bilateral free trade deal of the Trump administration.

This time the Trump administration’s nominee for USTR is Lighthizer’s former chief of staff, Jameson Greer.   

“I think they would maintain the same welcoming attitude for a bilateral FTA with the Philippines,” Rodolfo said.

US senator Marco Rubio, now confirmed unanimously as the state secretary, aspired way back in June 2020 for a Philippines-US strategic economic and security partnership. 

Rubio called for a negotiation on a critical minerals agreement with the Philippines and instructed all US government agencies to look for ways to support the Philippines, including funding whatever is needed so that the Philippines can process more critical minerals. 

That agreement, meant to increase the production of critical minerals and improve mining industry governance, was signed in 2024.

“In summary, looking at what happened in the congressional hearings, looking at the confirmation of key cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, we really foresee a net positive impact on Philippines-US relations,” the BOI official said.

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