Manila: The Philippines can potentially enhance its agricultural exports to the United States following the imposition of a 17 percent tariff on Philippine goods by US President Donald Trump, announced Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Thursday. This new tariff rate is set above the global baseline of 10 percent, yet it remains comparatively favorable for the Philippines.
According to Philippines News Agency, Tiu Laurel highlighted during a press conference that the Philippines enjoys one of the lowest tariffs among its Asian competitors, which includes countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand facing higher duties. “Based on the tally that I saw, we are the lowest. One of the lowest [tariffs]. So, it just means that we should put more sales into the US of our products,” Tiu Laurel stated.
The Agriculture Secretary pointed out that Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia face tariffs of 46 percent, 36 percent, and 32 percent respectively, while other ASEAN members like Cambodia and Malaysia face even higher duties of 49 percent and 24 percent. This situation presents an opportunity for the Philippines to increase its export of agricultural products such as coconut, seaweeds, and fish products to the US market.
Tiu Laurel mentioned that he has directed a review of the entire range of products currently being exported to maximize the potential benefits from the favorable US tariff. However, he did express concern regarding Ecuador, which faces a lower tariff rate of 10 percent and competes in similar product categories such as tilapia and shrimp. “Ecuador also produces a lot of tilapia, a lot of shrimp, and some products similar to ours. So that might be a concern. But of course, in the whole scheme of things, I believe that we are, I’ve been to Ecuador many times, and I know how they work. I think we are, we can be competitive in this,” Tiu Laurel remarked.
Despite these challenges, the Philippines saw its total export sales reach USD6.25 billion for the month, with a diverse array of products including electronic goods, manufactured items, machinery and transport equipment, coconut oil, and various mineral products contributing to this figure.
