MANILA — The Philippines is in a better position in terms of US tariffs against neighbors in Southeast Asia, which could mean more trade and more jobs if US President Donald Trump's tariff policy pushes through, the Department of Trade and Industry said.

In an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo on Saturday, Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said the Philippines has an advantage in the region "if you look at the big picture."

Tariffs are a duty placed on imported goods and are a protectionist measure meant to keep domestically-produced goods competitive. Trump has announced increased tariffs, saying this will bring American jobs and manufacturing back.

Roque said agricultural products like coconut oil and dried mangoes could see a boost because of lower US tariffs against those announced on goods from Cambodia and Thailand.

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"'Yung presyo natin tataas din, pero mas mataas yung presyo ngayon ng neighboring countries sa [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]," she said.

(The prices of our goods will also rise but the prices of goods from other ASEAN countries will be higher)

Trump announced a tariff of 17% on goods from the Philippines against 34% on Thai goods and 49% on imports from Cambodia.

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"So that gives us now a really big spread... ang laki noon (that is huge)," Roque said.

She said that companies in the Philippines are preparing to ramp up production of goods for export in anticipation of the higher tariffs, which Trump said this week would be put on hold for 90 days.

For example, she said, a huge supplier of dried mangoes based in Cebu has had to compete with Cambodian products and could benefit from the new rates.

"He can do more, ang problema lang, ang presyo natin at the time masyadong mataas so hindi rin siya maka-full capacity," Roque said.

(He can do more, but the prices at the time were too high to compete, so he couldn't go on full capacity)

She said the looming tariffs could mean production could go on full capacity, which would mean "he will bring in now more workers."

Roque added: "Yung mga malalaking kumpanya, nagpe-prepare na rin for this, so that means maraming trabaho din ang papasok."

(The big companies are also preparing for this, so that means more jobs will come in)

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She said the DTI has also been "aggressive" in looking for more markets for Philippine goods.

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Roque and Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go expect to fly to Washington DC "towards the middle of May" for trade negotiations.

She said the Philippines will stress "the close relationship bet the Philippines and US" and the history of trade between the two.

Roque said they will also highlight that the Philippines "is really an investment haven now, especially with all the incentives that we're offering, so we can really give the best products and we can really give the best prices."

She added countries in the ASEAN also want to negotiate with the US as a bloc but that efforts are up to individual countries for now. — Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News

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