PIDS: PH-US tariff deal 'inferior'

State-run think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said the Philippines must improve the competitiveness of its domestic industries to shield itself from the impact of the higher tariffs to be imposed by the United States (US) starting this August, given an “inferior” trade deal that Manila secured with Washington.

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PIDS emeritus research fellow Josef T. Yap and senior research fellow Francis Mark A. Quimba said in an Aug. 4 policy note titled “The Trump Tariff Plan and the Philippine Deal” that the Philippines can pursue a strategic approach to deal with the uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff spree.

In particular, the government should address bottlenecks in trade support services so that Philippine exports would incur lower non-tariff costs, according to PIDS.

Additionally, PIDS said it is important to ensure that homegrown businesses and manufacturers are able to maximize the benefits coming from the Philippines’ existing free-trade agreements (FTAs).