Agriculture groups stay vigilant amid US tariff talks

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture industry groups remain vigilant over the recent US tariff developments, urging the government to fully disclose the results of the negotiations to assess the impact on the sector.

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) supported the government’s efforts of protecting key agricultural sectors in the bilateral talks with the United States.

PCAFI noted that the reduction in US tariffs to 19 percent from 20 percent is still a “positive development” despite the new rate still being higher than the initial reciprocal tariff of 17 percent.

The silver lining, the group pointed out, is that the Philippines has the second lowest US tariffs among Southeast Asian countries.

But PCAFI hoped that the government would still push for further reduction in US tariffs for the benefit of the country’s agricultural exporters.

“We commend the government’s trade negotiators for protecting critical local agriculture industries in the negotiations,” PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said, noting that the country was able to reduce US tariffs at minimal costs and concessions.

Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go earlier stated that vital agricultural products like sugar, corn, rice, chicken, pork and seafood were not part of the country’s concessions.

“The two clear concessions that the Philippines made – wheat and soy products – will not result in significant damage to local industries but may even yield positive results in the form of cheaper animal feed products,” Fausto said.

“It is also worthy to note that these two products are not produced locally and are already among the top agricultural imports of the country from the US,” Fausto added.

The government should continue to protect the interests of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk in its ongoing negotiations with the US until the final trade agreement has been signed, Fausto said.

“We will remain vigilant in the ongoing bilateral negotiations since the final trade deal has yet to be finalized,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) asked the government to fully disclose the results of its recent negotiations with the US, citing conflicting statements and speculations about the talks.

FFF noted that the US has yet to corroborate the statements of government officials regarding the concessions that the Philippines made.

The group warned that the US may later on insist on a wider range of affected products or a “blanket” application of zero tariff on all products as what happened to Indonesia and Vietnam.

“The (tariff reduction) was not only disproportionate to our zero-tariff concession, but also harmful to our export trade prospects,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said.

“Moreover, even if this 19 percent tariff is equal to or even lower than the tariffs imposed on countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, we will still lose out to them in terms of quality, consistency of supply and overall competitiveness,” Montemayor said.