Finance chief Go: PH to press US talks as tariffs spare key exports

Frederick Go

DOF Secretary 

Finance Secretary Frederick Go said the Philippines will press trade talks with the United States after Washington imposed a new 10 percent import tariff, even as most Philippine exports remain exempt and access to the US market stays largely intact.

The levy was announced after the US Supreme Court voided earlier Trump tariffs, replacing them with a 150-day global duty starting Feb. 24, The Philippine STAR reported on Feb. 22. 

Go said dialogue remains essential because the US is a major trade and investment partner and Philippine exports were already shielded. 

“They are an important trade and investment partner,” Go said in a statement over the weekend the weekend. 

Go also pointed out that most Philippine semiconductor and key agricultural exports to the US were already exempted from tariffs even before the Supreme Court decision.

 Exporters said the shift to a global tariff preserves Philippine competitiveness against other suppliers, The STAR reported. 

—Edited by Miguel R. Camus