Tariff jams furniture exports

The logistics industry has suffered a significant decline in exports since the Trump Administration imposed the 17 percent tariff on all United States-bound Philippine products, a player in the industry said.

“Because of the wait-and-see situation of Trump’s tariff right now, the logistics industry is impacted by at least 10 percent losses. Just like furniture products from Cebu, and garments that are currently on hold since March. There is even ‘blank sailing’ from China happening right now,” said Airspeed president and chief executive Rosemarie Rafael in an ambush interview in Taguig City on Tuesday.

“It is because there are a lot of shipments that are not allowed to go out, especially from China,” she added.

A blank sailing is a voyage that has been canceled by the carrier, which may mean one port is being skipped or the entire string is stopped.

With the 17 percent tariff given a 90-day grace period, Rafael said buyers are right now in a “hold or go” mode.

“They (buyers) don’t know if they will push through with the outbound orders. The tariff is affecting Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which are considered manufacturing countries. Although the Philippines is no longer a manufacturing country, we are still affected by that. What we are looking right now is how we can collaborate with the ASEAN region, the 5th largest economy globally, to try other markets,” Rafael said.

Apart from dealing with ASEAN markets, Rafael said exporters should now consider the Middle Eastern market, the rest of Asia, as well as Africa, instead of the United States alone.

“There are markets that have remained untapped because our major partner is the US. The tariff issue is an opportunity in adversity, wherein people can look and see how we can build other markets,” according to Rafael.

Despite this, she said the logistics sector will remain resilient amid the ongoing trade woes, just like what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The logistics sector will still be there because we need to move products. The domestic market, on the other hand, remains a strong segment, since the Philippines is an importing country,” she maintained.

Rafael said AirSpeed operates with 30 percent for export activities, while the remaining 70 percent deals with importation.

“I hope the other countries will be able to negotiate with the US to lower the tariff. It’s not only China that is affected, but also other countries that are manufacturing for China,” she said.

On Tuesday night, ASEAN leaders released a statement amidst rising global trade tensions and growing uncertainty in the international economic landscape.

In its statement, ASEAN is expressing “deep concern over the imposition of unilateral tariff measures, which pose complex and multidimensional challenges to ASEAN economic growth, stability, and integration.

On Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he had written to US President Donald Trump to set up a meeting between Southeast Asian leaders in an effort to ease tensions following Washington's sweeping new tariffs.

Anwar said during his opening remarks that he reached out to Trump to "seek his understanding" and push for US-ASEAN summit. with CARL MAGADIA