The US and the Philippines have agreed on a trade deal with a 19% tariff on Philippine exports and zero tariffs on US goods.
The US and the Philippines have concluded a trade agreement that lowers the planned US tariff on Philippine exports from 20% to 19%, effective 1 August 2025.
The deal was reached following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official visit to Washington and his meeting with US President Donald Trump on 22 July 2025.
In exchange for the one-percentage-point reduction, the Philippines has agreed to eliminate tariffs on American automobiles and increase imports of selected US goods, including soy products, wheat, and pharmaceuticals. According to President Marcos, these changes are expected to improve domestic supply and help reduce the prices of medicines in the Philippines.
President Trump described the outcome as part of the Philippines’ “going open market” with the US, highlighting that American goods exported to the Philippines will now face zero tariffs.
The 19% duty on Philippine goods remains above the initially proposed 17% but is still among the lowest in the region, second only to Singapore, which has a free trade agreement with the US.
The agreement with the Philippines is part of a broader US strategy to revise trade relationships ahead of a 1 August deadline for countries to avoid steeper tariffs. The Trump administration has warned of import duties as high as 50% on certain goods if new trade terms are not reached. The Philippines is the fifth country in Southeast Asia to reach such an agreement in recent months.
The US was the Philippines’ top export destination as of May 2025, accounting for USD 1.115 billion or 15.3% of the country’s total exports, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
