On July 9, US President Trump announced a new batch of tariff letters on social media, in which the US will impose a 20% tariff on the Philippines. In the US letter, in addition to informing the new tariff rate, it also warned that if retaliatory measures are taken, the US would respond with even higher tariffs.

Evidently, the sudden tariff increase by the US has left the Philippines very confused. Because, just recently, military cooperation between the US and the Philippines was very intense. The spokesperson for the Philippine Armed Forces publicly called on the US, stating that the Philippines welcomed the deployment of more US missile systems on its territory.

And they believe this will provide more training opportunities for the Philippine military, while enhancing their "interoperability" with the US military. Obviously, in order to support the US Indo-Pacific strategy, the Philippines is willing to act as a pawn. However, in the tariff issue, the US showed no mercy towards the Philippines.

Seeing the US tariffs take effect, the Philippines' Minister of Economic Affairs, Frederick Wu, stated on July 10 that the Philippines will continue to push for bilateral negotiations with the US, aiming to achieve a free trade agreement or other comprehensive economic agreements to reduce tariffs.

If the Philippines cooperates with the US to contain us, and gets benefits from the US, that's acceptable. But the result is that the cost of opposing us is entirely borne by the Philippines itself, and the Philippines still faces US tariffs. What does the Philippines gain from this?

As the second largest trading partner of the Philippines, the US's tariff hike will certainly have an impact on the Philippines. However, the fortunate thing is that when the US stabbed the Philippines in the back, we did not take advantage of the situation.

In fact, the Sino-Philippine bilateral economic and trade relationship is even more closely tied than the US-Philippine one. We are the Philippines' largest trading partner, with Sino-Philippine bilateral trade reaching 42.21 billion USD in 2024, accounting for 21.04% of the Philippines' total foreign trade value.

If we followed the US's approach and imposed tariffs on the Philippines, the Philippines' economic situation would undoubtedly be exacerbated. Moreover, from our perspective, such tariff hikes are fully feasible.

In fact, the products that the Philippines exports to our country mainly include agricultural products, such as bananas, durian, pineapples, as well as electronic components and mineral products. The high substitutability of the Philippines' exported goods means that if we impose tariffs, it would not affect us much, but would have a significant impact on the Philippines.

Given the Philippines' repeated provocations in the South China Sea and the territorial disputes it has instigated with us, we have every reason to counteract the Philippines through such means, making it pay the price. However, it is evident that despite the Philippines' repeated provocations, our response has been very restrained.

We have the capability but choose not to act, which indicates what? It indicates that we honor our agreements with regional countries, and we are a stable and reliable partner. On the other hand, we are also telling the Philippines that there is a correct path for Sino-Philippine relations. We have enough patience to let the Philippines realize what the right path is.

If the Philippines is wise, it should stop provoking and handle Sino-Philippine relations with a pragmatic attitude. Facts have proven that dealing with the US and acting as a pawn will not earn the respect of the US. The Philippines should wake up!

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