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BBM is visiting Washington DC from Sunday to Tuesday next week. The visit comes shortly after Trump announced an increase in the tariff for Philippine products entering the US, from 17 to 20 percent.
The official announcement says the visit is currently negotiation-focused and nothing is finalized as a signing event. Usually, heads of state don’t waste each other’s time if they are not ready to sign an agreement.
The negotiating teams should have done most of the work by the time they drag the President across the Pacific Ocean to a White House meeting. Are they just trying to manage expectations? Or maybe trying to position BBM as a hero for bringing home supposedly hard-won concessions.
Otherwise, exposing BBM like that is dangerous especially with someone as mercurial as Trump. Heads of state do not engage in public negotiations. The last one who tried that with Trump was Ukraine’s Zelensky and we all know how that ended.
Then again, maybe they need to evoke nostalgic old ties with BBM’s mom to soften the heart of Trump on the 20 percent tariff. Imelda and Trump were social acquaintances in New York during the 1980s and 1990s, often seen attending the same events.
During a friendly congratulatory phone call on Nov. 19, 2024, then President-elect Donald Trump asked BBM about his mother, Imelda Marcos, saying plainly, “How is Imelda?” BBM replied that she “sends her regards.”
BBM later said that Trump and Imelda have been longtime acquaintances, and that Trump is “friends” with her. BBM described the call as “very friendly,” and focused on personal connections and the longstanding alliance between the two nations.
The Marcoses owned several major Manhattan properties — including 40?Wall?Street, later renamed the Trump Building after Donald Trump took over its leasehold in 1995.
So, will BBM’s visit be a social one meant to break the ice in current negotiations for a lower tariff or even a bilateral free trade agreement?
“The issue of tariffs…it’s also very important to us. We have already sent negotiators to discuss this issue,” Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the media on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Other than tariffs and trade, security should also be an important part of BBM’s agenda with Trump. Relations between Manila and Washington have dramatically improved under BBM, a dramatic change from the China-loving Duterte.
BBM has pivoted our foreign policy closer to the US and allowed American soldiers to expand their presence at Philippine facilities. The Philippines is important to US efforts to counter China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan.
We have a seven-decade old mutual defense treaty and we host dozens of “Balikatan” exercises, which have recently included testing of a US Typhon missile system, angering China.
Maybe BBM can tell Trump granting us some benefits won’t cost the US much. In terms of trade, our share of US imports last year was a minuscule 0.04 percent of their total imports. But the US is the top destination for our exports, accounting for 16.6 percent of our total exports. The US is extremely important for our small export sector.
America’s total goods trade with the Philippines amounted to about $23.5 billion in 2024. The Philippines exported $14.2 billion worth of goods to the US, while it imported $9.3 billion, or a positive trade balance for the Philippines of $4.9 billion.
Most affected by the increased tariff would be our electronics manufacturing sector, which accounts for about 60 percent of total Philippine merchandise exports and mostly to the US.
The outlook for our electronics exports this year is at risk because of the latest tariff increase being imposed by Trump at 20 percent.
According to Dan Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, the higher levy creates major concerns as it erodes the country’s advantage over Vietnam, which has been increasing its semiconductor exports.
“We were at 17 percent and Vietnam was much higher than that and now we’re at the same level. And Vietnam is one of our biggest competitors, if you will, in terms of attracting foreign direct investments and even exports,” he said.
Trump has also just given Indonesia a 19 percent tariff rate, a percentage point lower than ours.
Trump tariffs will also adversely affect Philippine snacks, dried fruits, juice and condiments exported to the US and are essentially sold at Asian stores patronized by the Filipino-American community.
Ruben See, president of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization Inc., said the higher 20 percent tariff would mean higher landed costs, affecting retail prices that may stifle demand.
He urged BBM to negotiate with Trump to lower tariffs to zero or a maximum of five percent. “Kung 20 percent talaga, mahihirapan tayo,” See said.
Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. expressed concern that the Philippines may no longer be able to offer trade concessions without hurting local industries. Ortiz-Luis noted that other countries currently negotiating with the US enjoy more bargaining power.
“We have given the US (military) bases, they are putting ammunition here, we are buying used equipment from them…I cannot think of anything we can offer on the trade side, except things that will probably affect our agricultural imports from the US,” Ortiz-Luis said.
On the other hand, Vietnam has agreed to eliminate tariffs on American exports, effectively granting zero?tariff access for US goods entering Vietnam. That is impossible for us to top.
As Trump would put it, we have no cards. Putting it bluntly, we must beg. BBM must be extremely charming to win concessions from Trump.
So many Filipino entrepreneurs and workers are banking on BBM to produce a big miracle.
Maybe he should bring his 96-year-old mother Imelda with him to renew old ties. There may still be some magic left there.
Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco
