Philippine Ambassador to the USA Jose Manuel Romualdez —Photograph by Andrew Harnik/Pool/Agence France-Presse
The Philippines could pursue a “sectoral” free-trade settlement (FTA) with the USA below the administration of President Donald Trump, with the important minerals sector doubtless the primary precedence.
Philippine Ambassador to the USA Jose Manuel Romualdez informed reporters throughout a media briefing on Tuesday that Manila had a “good likelihood” of reaching a bilateral FTA with Washington this time round after talks fell by throughout the Biden administration.
READ: Trump’s proposed common tariffs forged uncertainty on PH’s exports
“However I believe it must be sectoral; it will possibly’t be the entire free commerce settlement,” Romualdez mentioned throughout a press convention led by the US-Philippines Society.
“We had some discussions within the first Trump administration on how we are going to proceed with the FTA, however that clearly was abbreviated, and we have now an opportunity now to resume that,” he added.
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In 2023, the USA dropped plans to forge an FTA with the Philippines, saying that conventional free commerce pacts weren’t the “applicable” framework to handle commerce challenges.
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The Philippine authorities sees an FTA with the world’s largest financial system as a solution to increase exports whereas additionally enabling larger market entry for each nations.
Underneath the USA’ Generalized System of Preferences, exported items from designated creating nations, together with the Philippines, are duty-free.
Whereas a sectoral FTA remains to be into consideration, Romualdez identified that they’d prioritize a important minerals settlement, which it had already been pursuing throughout the Biden administration.
“We are going to pursue it much more vigorously this time as a result of it will likely be mutually helpful for each the USA and the Philippines,” he mentioned.
“It’s one in all our pure sources, and we may get higher costs for nickel, as an illustration, if we had been in a position to course of it right here … I believe folks ought to notice that the minerals we have now on this nation are prime grade,” added Romualdez, who just lately attended Trump’s inauguration.
Nickel is a key mineral within the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries used for electrical autos, that are already broadly common in the USA.
Aside from important minerals, the Philippines can also be semiconductors, particularly with the USA making an attempt to maneuver away from China and, as an alternative, produce chips by itself or commerce with trusted allies.
“That, once more, is a chance for us,” Romualdez mentioned.
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Presently, the Philippines has bilateral FTAs with Japan and South Korea. It additionally signed the Philippines-European Free Commerce Space FTA in 2016.
