MANILA(November 21) — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. says the country’s fruit exporters can finally “breathe easier” after the United States confirmed it will maintain duty-free access for tropical products such as bananas, pineapples and coconuts — a major relief for one of the Philippines’ biggest agricultural export sectors.
Speaking at the 3rd Philippine Hydro Summit in Pasig, Tiu Laurel said Washington’s decision to keep zero tariffs on goods it does not produce domestically clears the uncertainty that had stalled expansion plans among exporters.
“The anxiety of our industries… has calmed,” he told reporters, saying growers can now move forward with investments that were frozen for months amid fears of a potential 19 percent tariff.
He clarified the tariff hike was never actually imposed, but the threat alone had “stopped investments” because producers had no clear trade outlook. With clarity restored, he said the Marcos administration will push export growth as “a banner program for next year.”
But farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) tempered the optimism, noting that the tariff relief applies to many countries — not just the Philippines.
SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet said the continuation of zero tariffs does not give Filipino exporters any competitive advantage in the US market. What matters, he said, is whether Philippine trade negotiators can secure meaningful movement toward lowering the 19 percent reciprocal tariff that other countries have successfully reduced.
The group is also seeking clarity on whether the Philippines is expected to maintain zero tariffs on US agricultural imports, despite heavy lobbying from American meat and soybean exporters.
Cainglet warned against giving further concessions, saying the Philippines already imports far more US farm products than it exports — resulting in a nearly $2-billion agricultural trade deficit.
“The deficit will only widen with our reduced tariffs on pork, chicken and corn,” he said.
