The Philippines should take advantage of the opportunity offered by the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on Chinese products, the US Chamber of Commerce said.
At an economic briefing hosted by the Philippine embassy in Washington DC yesterday, chamber director for Southeast Asia Javiera Gallardo said the US Chamber recently prepared a study on the impact of Section 301 tariffs on China and its effect on neighbors in the Asean region.
The US has put in retaliatory tariffs on Chinese goods of up to 25 percent since 2018.
“Our study found that the Philippines has an average tariff advantage of 19 percent over Chinese exports coming to the US,” Gallardo said.
The study indicated the Philippines also recorded significant increases in exports to the US of travel goods, computer accessories and power cords since the imposition of the additional duties on Chinese exports to the US.
“However, the data show the Philippines has yet to fully maximize the advantage brought by the Section 301 tariffs,” she said.
Gallardo said the Biden-Harris administration has not indicated it will lift these tariffs anytime soon.
“…the Chamber is optimistic about the economic relationship between our countries. Our study shows a substantial tariff differential between Chinese and Filipino exports to the US, which we believe is an additional opportunity to grow the relations on top of the reforms Manila is already undertaken,” Gallardo said.
