Philippine President Explains the Details of the US-Philippines Trade Agreement to the Nation!
On Tuesday, the United States agreed to lower the import tariffs on Philippine goods, but only by 1 percentage point, from 20% to 19%, in exchange for zero tariffs on Philippine products to the US.
19% is still higher than the 17% that Trump had threatened to impose in April. For this reason, President Marcos held a press conference to explain it.
President Marcos stated that the zero tariff will apply only to certain products, such as cars, and not to all American goods.
"The markets they asked us to open are not yet open. One major area is cars, because we tax American cars, and in the future we will open the market and stop taxing them."
President Marcos confirmed that the Philippines will increase imports as requested by the US, which can help reduce prices in the Philippines: "There are several reasons, but there is another reason, that is, the imports of soy products, wheat products, and medicines from the US have increased."
President Marcos said, "The details of 'different products, different exports' are still to be resolved, but basically this is our current template, this is what we are following, that is, we charge 19% tax on Philippine goods imported into the US."
Marcos denied that the Philippines was at a disadvantage, even though the US only agreed to lower by 1 percentage point, "1% seems like a small concession, however, when you put it in reality, it is a major achievement."
"Comparatively, we are still doing more, they told us it is because of the special relationship between the Philippines and the US."
"Regarding import duty rates and our trade agreement, we need to have more discussions with the US. Our strongest, closest, and most reliable ally has always been the US."
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838479404037132/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.