China opens door for more Philippine exports

Amid steep us tariffs

MANILA, Philippines — China is ready to buy more products from the Philippines, presenting opportunities for Filipino exporters, amid the tariffs imposed by the United States on its trading partners.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian told reporters that there is room to boost trade with the Philippines amid higher US tariffs.

“Regarding the trade [between] China and the Philippines, to be frank, it’s big for you, it’s small for us,” he said.

Thus, he urged the Philippines to increase its exports to China, saying that they
are willing to buy more products from the Philippines that may be affected by higher tariffs slapped by the US.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that China was the biggest source of Philippine imports, valued at $32.83 billion or 25.7 percent of the total last year.

In terms of exports, China ranked as the Philippines’ fourth major trading partner, accounting for $9.44 billion or 12.9 percent of last year’s total.

Huang said China is ready to import more from other countries including the Philippines.

“So we hope you can take an opportunity to increase this,” he said.

He said China is the second largest consumption market in the world and the Chinese market is expected to continue to grow.

With the aim of providing a platform for companies from other countries to offer their products to the Chinese market, China also holds the

China International Import Expo in Shanghai every year.

Huang said the Philippines signed a deal to export more than $1 billion worth of products to China during last year’s expo.

He also said there are opportunities to boost trade between the two countries as both are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Free Trade Agreement Area, which has just concluded the negotiations for version 3.0, as well as the mega free trade deal Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.

Given the tariffs imposed by the US on its trade partners, Huang said China and the ASEAN including the Philippines should work together to safeguard free trade and push for a stable and fair international economic order.

US President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs up to 145 percent on Chinese goods. China has responded with a 125 percent levy on American products.

Trump has also imposed a 10 percent levy on goods from most countries including the Philippines, while placing the much higher tariff rates on a 90-day pause.

Prior to the pause, the US announced a 17 percent tariff on goods from the Philippines, the second lowest in ASEAN.

While some remain optimistic that the 17 percent tariff imposed on the Philippines would give the country a competitive edge in exports, Huang said that the country could be negatively affected as the shifting of the US tariffs may impact the global supply chain and raise prices of goods.

“If the protectionist practices of the US extend to the service sector, major pillars buttressing the Philippine economy such as BPO (business process outsourcing) and OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittance will also face a fatal blow,” Huang said.

He said the US tariffs also affect other ASEAN countries and have disrupted established trade flows.

For China, he said trade wars and tariff wars would not produce any winners and protectionism will lead nowhere.

He said what the international community needs now more than ever is to work together.

“We need to present a unified voice to make the truth uncovered and foil these injustices. China believes that the majority of countries will choose to stand on the right side of history, and jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” he said.