The Philippines seeks to resolve some of the trade issues exporters are facing in the United States involving detained apparel exports and shrimp paste shipments.
On the US side, an official noted the need to enhance paper work for shipments in the Philippines through digitalization.
Ceferino Rodolfo, undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, said Secretary Alfredo Pascual sought the support of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on specific market access issues on garments and shrimp paste.
“While these are not directly within the purview of the (US) Department of Commerce, we are deeply thankful for the personal commitment of Secretary Raimondo to closely collaborate with us in finding a clear way-forward to address the issues,” said Rodolfo in a text message to reporters.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of the US ensures American entities are not funding forced labor among ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
This has led to the detention of garments exports on the assessment of the US Customs Border Protection Agency which uses an algorithm that raises alert that shipments from the Philippines used cotton that possibly comes from Xinjiang.
Rodolfo said the Philippines has asked the US to expedite the release of Philippine-made garments for American brands using documents authenticating the sourcing of cotton used to make these apparel.
Pascual in an earlier interview said cotton used by local apparel companies does not come from China but from Brazil, Turkey and the US itself.
Rodolfo said the Philippines is willing to have samples tested.
“We are fighting for the workers of the industry because we are losing export orders. This (detention) has an impact because other brands will no longer order from the Philippines if they see their shipments could possibly be detained,” Rodolfo said.
Meanwhile, Rodolfo said US public law 101-162, or Section 609) has also caused the detention of shrimp paste exports.
This law provides that wild-caught shrimp or products from wild-caught shrimp harvested with commercial fishing technology that may adversely affect protected sea turtles species may not be imported into the US .
“We are working on the issues,” said Rodolfo, referring to certification that shrimp paste from the country complies with standards set by the US law.
In a separate press briefing, Mark Ein, chairman of the President’s Export Council of the US, said there is a overwhelming enthusiasm for American companies to expand their presence in the Philippines, there are trade issues faced for example by logistics firms FedEx and UPS.
“The one thing that we have heard is that some easier facilitation on paperwork on digitization of some of those processes, specifically from FedEx and UPS which obviously do a lot of the shipping,” said Ein.
