Second round of U.S. tariff talks likely — SAP Go

Despite assurances that the meeting with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer went well, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go on Monday said another round of negotiations is likely as the Philippines and the United States work to finalize a tariff agreement.

In a Palace briefing on Monday, Secretary Go said he and the rest of the well-prepared Philippine delegation, including Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez, were able to raise all the matters that have been brought up to them by export stakeholders in the country about the 17 percent imposed tariff on all US-bound exports.

“The good news was, I think, our discussions were very productive, and I believe that the meeting went extremely well,” he told reporters.

Despite this, Secretary Go did not mention a particular date for the second round of negotiations.

“What I can tell you is that the technical working groups, the Foreign Trade Office of the Department of Trade and Industry, are taking over from here, discussing with their counterparts at the USTR office to be able to work out the details of whatever discussions we have,” he said.

The imposed 17 percent tariff for the Philippines is at a 90-day halt, along with other nations, as decided by US President Donald Trump last month.

Secretary Go then directed the reporters to ask Undersecretary Allan Gepty of the DTI, the country’s chief negotiator of all trade agreements with various countries, who he said “will be continuing with the discussions with his counterparts at the USTR office.”

“I don’t know if I will be going there again, but for the TWG, well, in this day and age, they can meet via Zoom, there is email, and telephone. But to answer your question directly, I guess, there will be future trips,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.

DAILY TRIBUNE reached out to DTI Undersecretary Gepty regarding the matter and said that he would update the members of the media regarding its development.

Go said aside from the 17 percent tariff, they also discussed with USTR Greer the Philippine coconut industry, the country’s primary agricultural export to the United States.

“We also took up the matters that were raised by stakeholders of the garment industry, furniture industry, and food processing industries. Also, the concerns of players in the automotive parts. We all brought those up, and as I said earlier, I believe it was very well received,” he said.

Go said he cannot divulge their discussion with USTR Greer fully because “all these trade negotiations are covered by a confidentiality agreement.”

“I think we have to let the process take its place. We have to let the technical working groups work on a framework for discussions. I think both sides will have to work together to put a framework before the 90-day moratorium period is over. So, we should allow the process to take its place before we can go further,” Secretary Go explained, stressing that even some ASEAN nations that met with the USTR, namely Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, still don’t have a concrete conclusion on their tariff negotiations.

Apart from the tariff matters, Secretary Go earlier said the United States and the Philippines, through the US Trade and Development Agency, has poured an additional $1.3 million grant for the Luzon Economic Corridor, which means that funds to develop the LEC are now at $3.8 million from the previously pledged $2.5 million, signaling a strong commitment to fast-track transformative projects connecting key business hubs and strengthening the country’s economic position.