The United States remains supportive of the Philippines’ bid to reauthorize the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) as well as a critical minerals agreement but pushes for a number of areas in its next round of negotiations of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Sarah Bianchi, deputy US Trade Representative, identified a broad range of sectors that it is pursuing with the Philippines under IPEF, from labor to agriculture, to good regulatory practices.
With a free trade agreement in the back burner, the US utilizes the Trade and Investment Facilitation Agreement (TIFA) in strengthening its relationship with the Philippines,
“Our focus really is on IPEF and the Philippines is a big part of that. We have TIFA and we’ll probably do a meeting here on that next year,” Bianchi told reporters yesterday.
The Philippines has also been pushing for the inclusion of garments and shoes in the GSP, once allowed to reauthorize.
“I am hopeful. We are certainly supportive on the reauthorization of GSP. We are trying to send a really strong message that (US) Congress needs to get this accomplished. It’s really an important program,” Bianchi said.
The Philippines has earlier expressed interest to pursue a critical minerals agreement with the US similar to what it has signed with Japan.
Bianchi said the US is looking forward to a partnership with the Philippines on critical minerals though no deal is on the table yet.
“We are we are very focused on critical minerals given President Biden’s ambitious goals on electric vehicles, but also beyond that. A lot of the energy transformation will require critical minerals and I have every reason to expect that the Philippines will be on the frontline of that transition. That’s a great opportunity in this country. We look forward to partnering… there isn’t anything on the table right now in terms of doing something like we did in Japan, but the partnership between the United States and the Philippines is very strong,” Bianchi added.
Bianchi said the Philippines is a strong partner in the IPEF which is aimed to be completed before the end of the year.
The next round of negotiations is set next month in July.
