Amid geopolitical headwinds, Philippine-based firearms manufacturing firm, Armscor Global Defense Inc., said it has bounced back and will soon expand operations inside and outside the country.

“This is a recovery year, but our markets keep on increasing,” said Lt. Col. Gina Marie Angangco, president and CEO, Armscor Global Defense Inc., in a press conference at the Armscor headquarters in Fortune, Marikina City, on Tuesday.

Setting up in countries overseas

“Last April, we attended the Defense Services Show in Malaysia, the biggest defense show in Southeast Asia, and many countries talked to us and continued to talk to us as they are very interested in our supplying them with ammunition. Some of them are also interested in us setting up [manufacturing plants] in their country, similar to the operation we did in Montana, USA,” she added.

To recall, Armscor had to lay off hundreds of its employees when they were hit with the 19 percent tariff imposed by the United States government on the Philippines last year, as its products are mostly for exports, hitting the US market in particular.

The Armscor official said that instrumental in their firm’s resilience is the ruling of the United States Supreme Court that stopped the authority of US President Donald Trump on his decision to impose sweeping tariffs on various nations.

US tariffs

On 20 February 2026, the US High Court issued its decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and Trump v V.O.S. Selections Inc., two appeals concerning tariffs that President Trump had imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

In an opinion authored by Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr., the Court held that the IEEPA does not give the President authority to impose tariffs, affirming a lower court ruling that invalidated two sets of IEEPA tariffs: one set of tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) based on declared emergencies concerning illicit drugs, and another set of tariffs on most other US imports based on a declared emergency concerning the US trade deficit.

“Since the ruling deemed the tariff illegal, the government paid us back. The US only gave 10 percent tariff until 27 July. But if President Trump files another law to squeeze the tariff out of all of us, we are hoping not. Small businesses in the US have sued the federal government for loss of revenue because of the 10 percent tariff,” the Armscor official said.

A thousand employees

Armscor is now home to roughly a thousand employees, as the laid-off workers have already returned, according to Angangco.

The firm was also affected by the Middle East tension in terms of logistical woes; however, the firm was quick to find a solution by diversifying its supply chain into different regions.