Advertisement
Philippines eyes further US tariff bargain with Trump, targeting 15%
Envoy Jose Manuel Romualdez says there is ‘room for more improvement’ on the levy announced by the US president
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The Philippines will aim to bring down the tariff imposed by the US on Philippine exports to 15 per cent from 19 per cent, Manila’s envoy to Washington said, as the August 1 deadline set by President Donald Trump nears.
“There is room for more improvement on the tariff,” Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said in an interview on Thursday. “As he announced earlier today that the lower yield goes to 15 per cent and so we are all hoping that we’ll be able to bring it down to that level,” Romualdez said, referring to Trump.
Trump announced the new levy on the Philippines on Tuesday after he met President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr at the White House. The US leader on the same day announced a 15 per cent tariff on Japan.
Advertisement
The latest rate on the Philippines is marginally lower than the 20 per cent threatened by the Trump administration early this month, but higher than the 17 per cent announced in April. “We still have time to negotiate this,” the envoy said, adding that details of the trade agreement still needs to be discussed.
The slight reduction in the tariff for the Southeast Asian nation underlines the difficulty foreign leaders are facing in negotiating for a better trade deal with Trump. In announcing the agreement with Marcos on social media on Tuesday, the US president said the Philippines will open the market for US products and will not charge tariffs.
Advertisement
But Marcos later said the Philippines will only impose zero levy on certain products such as automobiles and will increase imports of soy and wheat products as well as pharmaceuticals from the US.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x