The Trump Administration’s imposition of 17 percent tariff on all United States (US)-bound Philippine products has impacted the logistics industry, according to an express courier.
“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,” Airspeed president and chief executive Rosemarie Rafael said 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 or all ports in the shipping route are being skipped.
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 they have or not. 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 for 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 US 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 have movements. Even if it is slow, there is always a comeback. The domestic market, on the other hand, remains a strong segment, since the Philippines is an importing country,” she maintained.