The Laurel–Langley Agreement was a

trade agreement A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tr ...

signed in 1955 between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and its former colony the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It expired in 1974. It was an amendment to the

Bell Trade Act The Bell Trade Act of 1946, also known as the Philippine Trade Act, was an act passed by the United States Congress specifying policy governing trade between the Philippines and the United States following independence of the Philippines from the ...

, which gave full parity rights to American citizens and businesses.

Provisions

The Laurel-Langley Agreement ended the free American market for sugar produced in the Philippines; it had been, before the agreement, exported to the U.S. duty-free. After the 1960s, exports from the Philippines increased significantly due to the American embargo against Cuba. The agreement also ended the authority of the United States to control the exchange rate of the Philippine

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

. Up until the agreement, it had been pegged to the American dollar at the rate of two pesos to one dollar.

References

Treaties of the Philippines Economic history of the Philippines Treaties of the United States Treaties concluded in 1955 Philippines–United States relations Commercial treaties Presidency of Ramon Magsaysay History of foreign trade of the United States {{philippines-stub