Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go and Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque will lead the Philippine panel in engaging with US Trade Representative (USTR) officials next week.
In a briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, Go said DTI Undersecretaries Perry Rodolfo and Allan Gepty will join the delegation.
He clarified that the trip to the US and the meetings with American officials had been scheduled even before US President Donald Trump announced the new tariff rates.
Trump had imposed a higher reciprocal tariff in April on key trade partners, including the Philippines, which initially received a 17-percent rate. This was later raised to 20 percent despite ongoing negotiations.
“We have received the latest reciprocal tariff from the United States for the Philippines. We are concerned that the US has decided to impose a 20 percent tariff on Philippine exports. The fact remains, however, that this rate is the second lowest among all reciprocal tariffs imposed in the region—the lowest being the 10 percent on Singapore,” Go said.
“The economic team and the DTI will continue pushing for key reforms to maintain a com-petitive and investor-friendly business climate while expanding global trade relationships to open more market opportunities for our enterprises,” Go said.
What happened?
Go said that despite previous optimism about talks with the US, some “posturing” may have contributed to the tariff hike.
He noted that after his trip to the US following the initial announcement, negotiations be-tween Philippine and US trade officials were largely limited to emails.
“I believe face-to-face meetings are far more effective,” Go said.
He added that the delegation will try to negotiate a tariff reduction during next week’s visit.
FTA main goal
“More important than simply lowering tariffs, what would be a bigger win is if we can secure a free trade agreement or a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership. Under such an agreement, we can request specific concessions from the US,” he explained.
Go said that under an FTA, the Philippines could negotiate rates lower than 20 percent—potentially even down to zero—depending on the product and its demand.
He cited the coconut industry as an example, saying the Philippines could lobby to reduce taxes from 20 percent to 10 percent or even zero. “These industries matter to us,” he said.
“Our real objective is a bilateral economic partnership agreement, and the USTR has indi-cated that it could be a possibility,” he added, while still committing to pursue talks regard-ing the reciprocal tariff.
Chips, semiconductors
Go downplayed fears about the impact of the 20-percent tariff, saying many Philippine ex-ports to the US—particularly semiconductors and electronics—are already exempt.
He said the tariff mainly applies to aluminum and steel products, which the Philippines does not typically export to the US.
However, he noted that some US agencies are still evaluating whether semiconductor and electronic products will remain exempt from tariffs.
“For now, the good news is most of our semiconductor exports are not affected,” he said.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) is calculating the po-tential economic impact of the tariff, Go said.
Asked if the US had requested specific concessions, Go said, “I think they also have a tem-plated wish list of many, many items.”
He declined to disclose its contents but added that he believes the Philippines has ad-dressed many of those concerns.
