Corruption hinders PH-US trade

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has flagged corruption and a flurry of other barriers to trade with the Philippines that the US government seeks to dismantle, in a report released just days before President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs.

- By DEXTER BARRO II

In its 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, published on March 31 (US time), the USTR identified the “pervasive and longstanding” corruption in Philippine national and local government agencies.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC), in particular, received a scathing acknowledgment over its “various corruption issues.”

While it recognized the BOC’s modernization efforts to address corruption and efficiency problems, the USTR said reports of corruption and irregularities are still widespread.

It noted that this is prevalent in the valuation process and inspection and testing of certain products, which only leads to undue and costly delays and inconsistent assessment of fees.

The report acknowledged the introduction of pre-border technical verification (PTV) last year, which aims to streamline inspection and monitor international transactions through a pre-export inspection by a conformity assessment company accredited by the Philippine government.

PTV, which is set for its first phase of implementation in May, was flagged by the USTR over concerns related to increased inspection and logistics costs, delayed movement of goods, and deviation from standard industry practices.

The supposed susceptibility of inspection agents to corruption in the country of export was also brought up.