Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said they are still awaiting the decision of the United States government on whether the 90-day pause on the implementation of sweeping import tariffs will be extended or not.
President Donald Trump last week said he is open to extending the 8 July deadline for trade talks before the tariff imposition kicks in, based on a report by Reuters.
The report also quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying that he told lawmakers that the Trump administration could extend the July trade deal deadline — or "roll the date forward" for countries negotiating in good faith, in certain cases.
“We heard that also, and that was told to us that there might be an extension. But again, there’s no confirmation yet. Everybody is just speculating. Of course, we have our own questions that we cannot divulge because we signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), but once we get feedback, then we will inform the President,” Roque told reporters on Wednesday.
The Trump administration imposed a 17 percent tariff on all US-bound Philippine exports last April, but later on halted it for 90 days, among other countries.
The Philippines is currently enjoying a 10 percent tariff.
“But if the decision is to retain the 10 percent, in my opinion, it’s okay already compared to the 17 percent. An extension would be okay, but again, everything is under negotiation,” Roque expressed.
She said that during negotiations in the US, everybody is confident or hoping to get what they negotiated, and their counterparts seemed to agree on their requests.
“But until we get the exact amount or percentage, we really can’t say for sure,” she stressed.
Asked if there’s a second round of negotiations to lower the tariff imposition, Roque said that there’s no such thing as a second round of meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.