Phl to keep tariff lines

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is keeping its current tariff lines because of the prevailing low import duties.

 During the recently-held 4th Philippine Trade Policy Review at the The World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, the WTO has urged the Philippines to implement greater predictability and competitiveness in its trade policy especially for foreign players.

Data from WTO showed that the Philippines currently has 8,299 tariff lines, 40 percent of which are unbound to tariff rate ceilings.

There is currently an “overhang,” or the difference between bound and applied tariffs.

The country’s simple average applied tariff is 6.4 percent, lower than 7.4 percent in 2005 when the Philippines last had its trade policy review.

The simple average applied rate is 19.3 percentage points lower than 25.7 percent bound rate. This gives the Philippines plenty of opportunity to raise tariffs. 

“The Philippines is one of the more progressive developing countries in terms of low applied tariffs...The overhang provides a degree of policy space for flexibility available for developing countries like the Philippines, a fundamental principle in the multilateral trading system,” Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal said in a press briefing.   

Cristobal noted that the Philippines has a good track record for implementing tariff rates.