Trump's tariff hikes unlikely to target Philippines: DTI official

The country’s trade deficit with the United States stood at $4 billion last year, far smaller than the deficits the latter faces with other Asian countries, like China ($300 billion), Vietnam ($109 billion), Japan ($75 billion), South Korea ($55 billion), India ($47 billion) and Thailand ($43 billion), Rodolfo said.

“We believe that countries with which the US has a huge trade deficit—particularly those which worsened during the past four years—will be likely targets of additional US tariffs,” he was quoted as saying by a domestic media reports.

This puts the Philippines in a strong position as the United States looks to address trade imbalances, he noted.

"With the Trump administration's focus on reducing trade deficit, the Philippines can leverage the balanced and healthy Philippines-US trade, indicating a mutually beneficial trade relationship,” the DTI official said.

Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, has been a strong proponent of closer economic and strategic ties between the United States and the Philippines, he added.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)