Exporters: US-China trade war no ‘untoward material’ on PH economy yet

The nation’s group of exporters has not yet seen any “untoward material” brought about by the current trade war between the United States and China to the Philippines, casting doubt on Malacañang’s statement blaming U.S. tariffs for the faster inflation in the country.

Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), said in a press briefing on Tuesday that he is still “processing” the impact of the trade war, especially if it really does relate to the country’s inflation, which hit an over nine-year high rate of 6.4 percent in August .

“Our position at the moment is we have not seen any untoward material of the [trade war]. There are possibilities of gains and losses but we don’t really see it unless it escalates to a point where it’s slightly unmanageable already,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

While on official visit in Jordan, President Rodrigo Duterte said the tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump caused the inflation spike here. This position of the Chief Executive was later echoed by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a radio interview.

The trade war between US and China has led to billions of dollars-worth of tariff on goods. Interestingly, however, China also imposed increased tariff on some US products but Duterte only mentioned the tariff foisted by US and not China, which the Philippines has been courting for economic and infrastructure development benefits.

“The truth is, the economy was messed up by the trade war between America and China, and we can’t deny this,” Roque has said in Filipino.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez refuted this. The DTI chief has previously said the US-China trade war had little to no effect in the country’s economy.

“On [Secretary] Roque’s comments, we already discussed and clarified that our economy is not ‘messed up by the trade war,’ if he indeed mentioned this,” Lopez said when the Inquirer sought for his comment on Roque’s assertion.

“There can even be some gains from relocating investors.  But in the long term, if the trade war escalates between the two big economies, then the whole world may eventually be affected. Nobody wins in a trade war,” he added.  /kga