An official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Tuesday underscored the need for greater collaboration with other trading partners to limit the impact of the United States’ tariff policies.

DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty, co-chair of the 11th Philippines-France Joint Economic Committee meeting, said diversification is the key to addressing the impact of US trade policies.

“One long-term strategy that we have embraced is to expand our FTA (Free Trade Agreement) network. That's why, recently, you will notice that we have been negotiating a lot of free trade agreements, and that includes, of course, the PH-EU (European Union) FTA, which is a very important free trade agreement for us,” he said in a briefing after the meeting in Parañaque City Tuesday night.

Gepty said the EU is historically a trading partner of the Philippines and accounts for 8 to 10 percent of the domestic economy’s total trade, around the same level as with the US.

“And that tells you that even without an FTA, our exporters look at EU as a potential foreign market to bring in their products,” he said. “So any and all arrangement that we can arrive at must be pursued, be it in the form of FTA or any other economic partnership.”

Since August this year, Philippine exports to the US have 19 percent tariff as part of the latter’s policy to prioritize domestic sources.

However, the Philippines declined to open its agriculture sector to the US to protect it from foreign competition. 

PNA PHOTO