Looking at the forest and not just the trees

We may seem biased but overall, President Marcos’ official trip to Washington, DC was very successful and, more importantly, consequential. President Donald Trump is known for placing great value on personal relationships and connections in meeting heads of state. Undoubtedly, President Marcos immediately connected as seen in the warm and cordial greeting of the US president, starting at the entrance of the White House where the amiability and the rapport between the two leaders were immediately noticed by the reporters gathered outside the West Wing.

In the Oval Office the mood was genial – a stark contrast to the tense atmosphere during President Trump’s meetings with other world leaders – described by the US president himself as a “beautiful visit” in his Truth Social media platform.

Not surprisingly, the usual suspects are criticizing the visit – choosing to ignore that it underscored the strategic alignment between the two countries and reaffirmed the mutual commitment to further strengthen the partnership in terms of defense, security and economic prosperity. The discussion also centered on enhanced cooperation on cybersecurity, energy supply resilience and critical infrastructure, all of which are important facets that would make the Philippines very viable as an investment destination.

The President’s meetings with American business executives also resulted in $21 billion worth of investment pledges to the Philippines. One of these is Ohio-based, $15-billion health care company Bon Secours Mercy Health that is planning to invest up to $500 million for a state-of-the-art tertiary hospital in the Philippines. BSMH president and CEO John Starcher is a personal friend of President Trump. He visited Manila early this year and had a meeting with President Marcos, wherein he indicated plans of investing more in the Philippines.

During their first in-person meeting, President Marcos and President Trump reaffirmed both nations’ ironclad commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty. As we all know, the US recognizes the importance of establishing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region. It has also been consistent in showing its support for maintaining peace and stability in the region and upholding the rule of law in the South China Sea.

On the question of tariffs, detractors are making all kinds of disparaging comments, claiming that we gave the shop away, so to speak, with the imposition of a 19 percent tariff on Philippine exports while the US will have zero tariffs. But as we explained during my interview on dzRH radio with Anthony Taberna and Gerry Baja, the 19 percent announced by the US president is still subject to a number of discussions on the details to be hammered out between our economic team and US Trade officials.

As for the zero tariffs on US products, this will only be applied to certain sectors such as automobiles and pharmaceuticals, but not on key sectors, particularly agriculture to protect our farmers and the industry.

Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go explained it very well during his press briefing in Malacañang, saying that the tariffs are universal – meaning they are imposed by the US on the whole world and not just on the Philippines. He also explained that tariffs will not be paid for by Filipinos but by importers and American consumers who will be buying the goods exported by the Philippines to the United States – and the same will also apply to all other countries.

He also clarified that the zero tariff concessions that were extended to the US are strategic to the Philippines and do not include fish, seafood and agriculture products that include sugar, corn, rice, pork and chicken to protect our farmers and fisherfolk. The zero tariff will only apply to products that the Philippines does not manufacture, or only produces in minimal quantities, he further explained.

Secretary Go disclosed that the 19 percent is already one of the lowest in Southeast Asia, second only to Singapore’s 10 percent, and this is an opportunity to attract foreign direct investors to put up businesses in the Philippines and export their products to the US.

We are hopeful we can still reduce the tariff when negotiations with the US Trade Representative continue. While the reduction to the 20 percent tariff that was imposed by President Trump earlier was just one percentage point, it is worth noting that there are no conditions or deep concessions that the Philippines has to fulfill, unlike other countries. Japan, for instance, got a 15 percent tariff but will also invest $500 billion into the US, while Indonesia, which has 19 percent like the Philippines, will have to purchase 50 Boeing aircraft.

More than the “numbers” from tariffs, the Philippines and the United States have much more to offer each other in terms of strategic alignment, political goodwill and reliability as allies who share the goal of preserving regional peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

One big major asset that we Filipinos have always had is resiliency. So much so that we have been compared to the bamboo tree because we have the flexibility to sway where the wind blows and bend without breaking. President Marcos has time and again shown what resilience is all about, navigating challenging situations with composure and displaying quiet strength and toughness.

But more importantly, Filipinos should have the ability to look at the forest and not just the trees – meaning we should see the big picture rather than being fixated on small details. In the case of these worldwide tariffs, we should focus on seizing the opportunities and using them to our advantage. In other words, seize the moment before the moment seizes us.

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