PH to determine impact of truce in US-China trade war - Marcos

BUSAN, South Korea - President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said Saturday that the government would monitor the impact on the Philippines of a truce in the trade war between the United States and China. 

Marcos said that the trade war between the world's two biggest economies would be ''less intense" as a result of the truce.

''The best information I got says that they have declared peace for at least a year. So, the trade war will be less intense at least for a year. Or at least that's the agreement...We hope it lasts a year,'' Marcos said. 

''We are waiting to see more, try and get more information. We'll see how it impacts the Philippines, our trade deals with the US, our trade deals with China, and I guess within Asia and within APEC, it really affects the entire world,'' he added.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he had agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases, and keeping rare earths exports flowing.

The US leader said tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57% by halving the rate of tariffs related to trade in fentanyl precursor drugs to 10% from 20%.

Trump's face-to-face talks with Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of the US president's whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian nations.

Trump did not attend the APEC leaders' summit in Gyeongju, flying back to Washington directly after his meeting with Xi.

Asked why he hadn't met with Trump, Marcos replied that neither side had requested one.

''We didn't ask, neither side asked for a meeting from the US or from the Philippines. So that's basically the reason why we didn't,'' Marcos said, adding that the Philippine government maintains good communication with the US. —with a report from Reuters/VBL, GMA Integrated News