THE PHILIPPINE government will bring up its interest to revive talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States once the first meeting between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and US President Donald Trump pushes through April or May, Philippine Ambassador to US Jose Manuel Romualdez.
In an interview on Tuesday, the envoy said there is a good chance that the US government would pursue bilateral FTAs with countries under the Trump administration.
“I think with the new administration of President Trump, there is a chance -- lahat naman ito is, and it should always be that way, kailangan it’s a fair type of trade between countries (all of these boil down to having fair type of trade between countries),” he said.
“And right now, I think that we don't have any major issue as far as trade is concerned, because ang surplus sa atin, in our favor, is not anything as big as other countries (because our surplus is not anything as big as other countries),” he added.
Romualdez said Manila and Washington, D.C. have already discussed about a possible bilateral FTA during the first Trump administration, but talks were stalled with the Biden administration’s disinterest to sign new preferential trade deals.
Both leaders have already indicated interest to meet in person when they spoke before the inauguration of Trump, Romualdez said.
“We all know that the White House is very busy right now with all of these things that are happening, especially in the European area, so we just have to wait. But we've been in communication with the White House on what will be on the agenda and the potential schedule,” he said.
The envoy earlier said Manila will also convey its interest to import liquefied natural gas from Alaska as the US government sets its sights on reviving the long-delayed USD44 billion gas pipeline project.
Ahead of the meeting, the envoy conveyed optimism that the Philippines-US relations would remain strong under the new US leader, noting it was during the first Trump administration that the alliance was described as "ironclad."
On the part of Manila, he said the Marcos administration would continue engaging the US while ramping up efforts to strengthen the country's economy and defense.
“(The Philippine-US alliance) is ironclad but we have to always be ready -- there’s only one thing that's permanent in this world, and that's change," he said.
“More than ever, we should learn from what we're experiencing today, that we have to be ready to defend ourselves in the future. And that's what’s President Marcos is doing right now in beefing up our armed forces -- that's why economic and defense are his priority,” he added. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
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