Marcos, New Zealand PM Luxon discuss free, fair trade 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon discussed over the phone the cooperation of the two nations on free and fair trade. 

“Good to reconnect with President [Ferdinand Marcos] Jr. tonight, with the Philippines an important partner for New Zealand in Southeast Asia,” said Luxon in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. 

“We discussed how we can continue to work together to support free and fair trade,” he added. 

Luxon also said that he and Marcos “checked in on the great work that our two countries are doing to take our relationship forward.” 

Good to reconnect with President @bongbongmarcos tonight, with the Philippines an important partner for New Zealand in Southeast Asia.

We discussed how we can continue to work together to support free and fair trade.

We also checked in on the great work that our two countries…

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) April 10, 2025

The call came in the wake of the unilateral imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump.

Marcos welcomed Luxon a year ago in Manila for his official visit where they also discussed elevating the two countries’ relations to a comprehensive partnership. 

The Philippines and New Zealand established diplomatic relations on July 6, 1966.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier said that the Philippines and New Zealand are set to sign their visiting forces deal soon. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News