Leaders Mark Progress on Philippine-US Trade Issues

The Philippines Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer issued a joint statement Oct. 22 describing "achievements resolving bilateral trade issues" between the two countries. The Philippines and U.S. have agreed to cooperate on automotive standards for imported autos; the Philippines has agreed to not discriminate against foreign electronics payments providers; and the U.S. will help the Philippines develop stronger cold chain practices, so it can export food that needs to be kept cold.

The U.S. praised the Philippines for trying to improve its valuation of agricultural imports. In the past, the USTR has said, there have been "reports of corruption and irregularities" in Philippine customs, including the use of reference prices rather than declared transaction values, 100 percent inspection and customs officials seeking the payment of unrecorded facilitation fees. In this statement, the Philippines said it would not use reference pricing.

The statement said: "The Philippines recognizes the U.S. interest in the extension of Philippine tariff rates on certain agricultural products. ... The Philippines commits to expeditious consideration of petitions for the extension of such rates, consistent with established procedural rules." The Philippines thanked the U.S. for adding travel goods to the Generalized System of Preferences program, and said there's been progress in getting access for its country's young green coconuts, mango and carrageenan. About $1.5 billion in Philippine goods qualify for GSP annually. "Both governments agree to a continued dialogue on priority issues of interest to both countries, including for the Philippines, discussions on seeking relief from U.S. safeguard measures on solar cells and Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum," the statement said.