Exporters cut target as tariffs bite

The country’s leading group of exporters is reducing its forecast for exports of goods and services this year to a new low, driven by the escalating impact of United States (US) tariffs and exacerbated by government intervention that continues to lag behind the industry’s most urgent needs.

- DEXTER BARRO II

Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the new target for the country’s exports is now between $105 billion and $110 billion.

Ortiz-Luis said last month that the industry is targeting overseas sales to reach $110 billion this year, although he had admitted that it could be out of reach.

The revised 2025 target is significantly lower than the government’s $163.6-billion projection under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP), which was the export sector’s original target.

Philexport later shifted to the full-year estimate under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 of $113.42 billion, but this is now also out of reach.

The group’s adjustment comes as the impact of the 19-percent tariff rate on goods coming to the US, imposed last Aug. 7, continues to reverberate across the industry.