UK seeks stronger trade ties with PH

The United Kingdom (UK) is reaffirming its strong commitment to free trade by expanding bilateral trade with the Philippines through a more robust trade preference scheme in the export market and other growth-driving sectors.

- By DEXTER BARRO II

Last year, total trade in goods and services between the UK and the Philippines reached £3 billion, or approximately P219 billion, a three-percent increase from £2.9 billion in 2023.

UK Trade Envoy George Freeman said there is a strong potential that the value of the trade relationship could double within the next three to four years through strategic partnerships.

Freeman said 99 percent of the Philippines’ exports to the UK is tariff-free courtesy of the European nation’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which cuts tariffs and simplifies trade rules to boost trade.

"That is a commitment to free trade. And I would gently make the point that not all countries are so committed at the moment to tariff-free trade. We are, and it's something we deeply share, because Filipinos benefit from that," Freeman said in a media roundtable on Friday, June 20.