Trump imposes 17% “reciprocal tariff” on PH exports to the US
US President Donald Trump. REUTERS
US President Donald Trump’s announced that a 17 percent tariff will be impose on Philippine exports to the United States as part of the “reciprocal tariff” policy—which would go into effect on April 9—across over 100 countries.
The Philippines’ goods entering America will be slapped with a 17% tariff—still a “discounted” reciprocal tariff compared to the 34% rate that Manila charges against goods coming from the US, as shown in a poster on Trump’s Truth Social page
White House’s website shows that the reciprocal tariff rate for the Philippines would be at 18%.
The Philippines’ tariff rate would be higher than the 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US.
In his statement, Trump said the “trading relationship between the United States and its trading partners have become highly unbalanced, particularly in recent years,” despite America’s commitment to the principle of reciprocity.
Earlier reported that the US chief’s reciprocal higher tariff would be targeted on countries that have significant trade imbalances with the US.
Data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative showed that the US goods trade deficit with the Philippines stood at $4.9 billion in 2024, up 21.8% from 2023.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said the embassy is currently assessing the impact of the US tariff on the country.
America’s total goods trade with the Philippines amounted to about $23.5 billion in 2024, with US goods exports to Philippines amounting to $9.3 billion, up 0.4% while goods imports totaling $14.2 billion.
The US is the Philippines’ top destination for its goods, accounting for 80.2% of its exports in 2024 at $58.7 billion, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Nevertheless, the reciprocal tariff rate for the Philippines would still be lower compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors with Brunei at 24%, Cambodia at 49%, Indonesia at 32%, Malaysia at 24%, Myanmar at 45%, Vietnam at 46%; with only Singapore to be charged the baseline 10% rate.
