PH to Maintain Engagement with US Despite New Tariffs on Exports

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration will continue engaging with the United States after Washington imposed an additional 12.5 percent tariff on Philippine exports, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Friday. In a Viber message, Castro said the government respects the US decision and will continue discussions while assessing the impact of the new tariff on Philippine exports. READ: US slaps Philippine exports with new 12.5% tariff “We take note of the US decision and respect its processes. During the review, however, we emphasized that the Philippines has a strong policy against forced labor,” Castro said. She added that the government had been informed of a Joint Administrative Order signed on Thursday establishing a mechanism to prevent the importation of products made through forced labor. “We will continue engaging with the US while reviewing the coverage of the exemptions and their impact on Philippine exports,” she said. The additional tariff came after the Office of the United States Trade found that the Philippines “has failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced-labor import prohibition” after several months of investigating 60 economies to determine whether they effectively prohibit the importation of goods produced through forced labor. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. Philippine exports to the US reached $13.44 billion in 2025, down from $14.5 billion in 2024, but still accounted for 15.9 percent of the country’s total exports./dp