A Philippine team led by Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go will travel to the United States in May to negotiate the reciprocal tariff issue with American authorities.
At the same time, the Philippines will continue to engage with the other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to develop a unified diplomatic response to the new US levies.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a media
briefing there is no specific date yet for when Go and his team will leave for the US, except that it will happen in May.
Last week, Go said the country had requested a meeting with the US Trade Representative about the reciprocal tariff, which had been approved.
Castro said the Philippines also continues to discuss with the other Asean member countries the crafting of a “Joint Diplomatic Outreach harmonizing messaging of the Asian countries.”
She said there is no update yet on the status of the discussions.
“Ito iyong, kumbaga ay ine-emphasize iyong diplomatic engagement rather than retaliation. At sa salitang galing po kay Secretary Go, ay cooperation not confrontation (This is to emphasize a diplomatic engagement rather than retaliation. And in the words of Secretary Go, cooperation, not confrontation),” she said.
Trade ministers from different Asean countries met last week to discuss the hefty reciprocal tariffs the US imposes on its trading partners.
In the region, Singapore and the Philippines obtained the lowest reciprocal tariffs at 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Higher tariffs were imposed on Vietnam (46 percent), Thailand (36 percent), Indonesia (32 percent), Malaysia (24 percent), and Cambodia (49 percent).
Trump later suspended the implementation for 90 days and imposed a universal “lowered reciprocal tariff of 10 percent” while negotiations were ongoing.
Improve products, services
Castro said the 10 percent universal tariff should serve as a challenge and opportunity for Filipino businesses to prove their worthiness and further improve their products and services to be more competitive or edge out the competitors.
She acknowledged that the 10 percent reciprocal tariff is equally imposed on all of the US trading partners.
“Iyan po ang magiging mas magandang opportunity para sa local businesses natin, na mas galingan pa nila ang kanilang mga produkto, ang kanilang mga serbisyo para sa paggawa ng mga produktong puwede nating i-export (That would be a good opportunity for our local businesses, to make products and services that we can export better),” she said.
Data from the USTR showed that the US-Philippines trade in 2024 amounted to $23.5 billion, with exports from the Philippines estimated at around $14.2 billion, up by 6.9 percent ($912 million) from 2023, while US goods sent to the Philippines were estimated at $9.3 billion, up 0.4 percent ($38.8 million) from 2023.
