Concessions in trade deal with US won't result in 'significant damage to local industries'

GMA Network

3 days ago

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2025. REUTERS/ Kent Nishimura
The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), an umbrella organization of 48 various agriculture industry groups, on Friday welcomed the government's move not to give zero duties for American agri-fisheries entering the country following the recent tariff negotiations between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and United States President Donald Trump.
'We commend the government's trade negotiators for protecting critical local agriculture industries in the negotiations,' PCAFI said in a statement.
'Secretary [Frederick] Go clearly stated that vital agricultural industries like sugar, corn, rice, chicken, pork, and seafood were not part of the concessions, thus keeping their current protection in the form of tariffs and other measures,' the agribusiness group said.
Go, Marcos' special assistant for investment and economic affairs, announced that the Philippines did not include key agricultural commodities in the concessions it gave out when it negotiated to lower the reciprocal tariff for the country's exports to the US.
Early morning on Wednesday (Philippine time), Trump announced a new 19% tariff rate for Philippine goods entering America. This is lower than the 20% announced in a letter earlier this month but higher than the 17% rate announced last April on what the US president referred to as Liberation Day.
Trump initially said the Philippines was going "open market" with the US with zero tariffs, while the Philippines would pay a 19% tariff.
Marcos, however, has since clarified that the zero tariffs on US products would only apply to certain markets, such as automobiles.
The President also committed to increasing imports of soy, wheat, and pharmaceuticals from the US.
'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,' PCAFI 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 United States,' it added.
The agribusiness group said it hopes the government will continue to protect the interests of local farmers and fisherfolk 'who remain as the lifeblood of our country's food security.'
'We will remain vigilant in the ongoing bilateral negotiations since the final trade deal has yet to be finalized,' it said.
On the reduction of the tariff rate the US will charge on goods from the Philippines from 20% to 19%, PCAFI said it is still a 'positive development' but expressed 'hope that the US tariffs can be reduced further for the benefit of our agricultural exporters.'
'The silver lining of the recent developments is the fact that the Philippines has the second-lowest tariff rate among Southeast Asian countries, giving us a tariff advantage against neighboring countries that produce and export almost the same agricultural products as ours,' the group said.
'They were able to lower the tariff rate at minimal costs to the country compared to other countries like Vietnam and Indonesia that had to sacrifice a lot, as what Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go mentioned,' it added. —VBL, GMA Integrated News