United States (US) Pres. Donald Trump raising tariffs on the Philippines to 20% shows that trusting in “good relations” or a “special relationship” with the US is unfounded. Rather than protecting us, this neocolonial belief actually just exposes us. It shows any so-called negotiations of the Philippines with the US, such as in the wake of Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” in April, are really just economic bullying.

The US exempts semiconductors, automobiles and automotive parts, steel and aluminum and other products deemed important for its reindustrialization. These aren’t products where Filipino producers are present anyway. They come from foreign firms merely located in the country and all the benefits of high-technology production go to them and not the domestic economy.

The sectors most affected by the higher tariffs are minority Philippine export products to the US like coconut oil, fruits and vegetables, other agricultural products, and textiles and apparel where Filipino producers have a greater presence.

Philippine officials have responded in a restrained, deferential, and damage-control mode which is a posture shaped by decades of dependency on the US. In a Malacañang press briefing today, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Secretary Frederick Go merely expressed “concern” while, in the same breath, insisting that the Philippines still has the second lowest tariffs to the US in Southeast Asia.

Sec. Go should perhaps have been more forthright and said that the 3-percentage point increase for the Philippines is the highest increase in the region—ranging from a 26-percentage point cut in US tariffs on Vietnam to a just 1-percentage point increase with Brunei and Malaysia.

Vietnam’s concessions have reportedly included buying more US agricultural products and liquid natural gas, loosening requirements for StarLink to enter, and easing up on US firms opening hotel, golf and residential properties.

Instead of expressing “concern” or “regret” over the tariffs, the Marcos Jr administration should challenge their legitimacy. It can for instance tell the public what exactly the US wants from the Philippines in exchange for lowering its tariffs.

Unfortunately, instead of defending Filipino producers the Marcos Jr administration is still focused on projecting the image of a “competitive and investor-friendly business environment” even if it means conceding more ground to US bullying and self-interest.

Sec. Go even bizarrely looked forward to negotiating a US-PH free trade agreement (FTA) or other bilateral economic partnership agreements with the US, implying that these would be opportunities to reverse the tariffs. He said the country would keep negotiating “in good faith” with the US and a government delegation will fly to the US for this next week. This attitude is oblivious not just to economic history, but even just specifically to the aggressiveness of US trade policy under the Trump administration. The latest tariff hike on the Philippines just puts the already strong US on even stronger negotiating ground in any upcoming talks.

The core issue is that the tariff hike exposes the weakness of an export-driven, foreign-led economy. The increase from 17% in April to 20% today underscores the need for a more assertive and self-reliant trade strategy. While maintaining good relations is important, this development highlights that we must prioritize building domestic purchasing power and a robust Filipino industrial base that makes the country less vulnerable to abrupt external policy shifts.

Rather than scramble to appease US trade demands, we should reorient economic policy— developing strong domestic production and Filipino industrial firms, reasserting state regulation, and breaking free from overdependence on foreign capital and markets.

The US is clearly using tariffs and access to the vast US market as among its instruments for the sweeping economic, military and geopolitical hegemony driving its imperial foreign policy. It clearly treats the Philippines as a subordinate client state whose economic policies it shapes with external pressure.

The latest US tariff hikes on the Philippines and the government’s response are a sharp reminder that dependency is a choice, and that the choice of the Marcos administration is subservience. The chronic stance of negotiating from a position of self-conscious weakness clearly only invites more external pressure.

However, subservience isn’t strategy—sovereignty is. A government that charts an independent economic path for the Philippines is long overdue.