MANILA, Philippines – The United States announced at least PHP 3 billion (USD 60 million) in foreign assistance funding to support energy, maritime, and economic growth programs in the Philippines, the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines said on Wednesday.
The announcement follows the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in Washington, D.C. on July 21, 2025.
According to the U.S. State Department, this is the U.S. government’s first announcement of new foreign assistance for any country since the Trump Administration began its review and realignment of foreign assistance in January this year.
“As part of this at least Php3-billion initiative, Secretary Rubio also announced that the U.S. Department of State intends to work with the U.S. Congress to allocate Php825 million ($15 million) to catalyze private sector development in the Luzon Economic Corridor,” according to the U.S. Embassy.
“If approved, this funding will support investments in the areas of transport, logistics, energy, and semiconductors that will help create jobs and drive economic growth in the country,” the Embassy added.
President Marcos’s meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Washington, D.C., this week reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Philippines Alliance and advanced closer economic ties between the two nations, the statement read.
Earlier in the year, the Office of the Spokesperson announced that Secretary Rubio has paused all foreign aid to make way for the implementation of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that all foreign assistance will undergo re-evaluation and realigning “to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda."
“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the visit yielded a new 19% tariff rate for goods from the Philippines after what Trump called a "beautiful visit" by President Marcos Jr. to the White House, and said U.S. goods would pay zero tariffs.
The new tariff rate is just below the 20% threatened by Trump earlier this month, but still above the 17% rate set in April when Trump announced what he called reciprocal tariff rates for dozens of countries. It matches the 19% rate announced for Indonesia and bests Vietnam's slightly higher rate of 20%.
Trump posted the news on his Truth Social media platform after meeting with Marcos in the Oval Office, where he had earlier signaled a deal could be reached during the visit.
"It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff," Trump said, calling Marcos a "very good and tough negotiator."
Trump said the two Pacific allies, who will celebrate 80 years of diplomatic relations next year, would also work together militarily but gave no details.
Marcos, the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term, told reporters at the start of the meeting that the United States was his country's "strongest, closest, most reliable ally."
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt; additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; editing by Ross Colvin, Deepa Babington, Rod Nickel and Nia Williams / Reuters)
