The Philippines joined the global movement towards economic openness, integration and liberalization during the post-cold war era at the start of the 1990s to affect the unhampered flow of trade. Except for the Philippines–EFTA Free Trade Agreement (FTA), all of the trade agreements that the country has been a party thereto, have been in full force in the last 10 years. The decade past has seen the dramatic transformation of global trade and witnessed the rise of China as an economic powerhouse. While Philippine trade expanded from 2009 to 2018, it has grown at the rate other trading economies expanded, thus continuing to account for less than 1.0% of global merchandise trade.