MANILA — The Philippines is eyeing to expand its markets in South America and in the Middle East after the United States hiked tariffs, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Wednesday.

Philippines sees possibilities in Trump's tariff push

Under US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, a 17 percent tariff will be imposed on goods from the Philippines.

“There are a lot of countries we are looking at. There’s South America, there’s the Middle East, there’s Asia and so many others especially for products that are in demand like what we have,” DTI Secretary Cristina Roque told reporters.

Semiconductors, coconut and other agricultural products are among Philippine products that may find more buyers in these continents, she said.

Despite being on the lookout for other markets, Manila remains optimistic that it can still try to negotiate with Washington to either lower tariffs or even push for a Free Trade Agreement, the Trade chief said.

“We’re still optimistic and another thing we’re looking at is to push for the free trade agreement not just with the US but with a lot of countries because when we do free trade there’s really a lot of benefits that we can generate,” Roque said.

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“To lower the tarrif would always be best but for me now its really for us to really look at the opportunity rather than to look at the things that are not working out,” she said.

The Philippines’ 17 percent tariff under the new scheme is lower compared to that of its neighboring countries such as Cambodia (49 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (34 percent).

Roque said this is an opportunity as the Philippines has been competing against Thailand in exporting coconut products, and against Cambodia in the sale of dried mangoes overseas.

“We must use this low tariff to push Philippine products and Philippine investments globally and locally also,” she said.

“If you look at it we’re still in a better place than all our ASEAN neighbors,” she said.

Meantime, Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said that he does not expect Trump’s new tariffs to have a “very big” impact on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that export their products to the US.

“What our Filipino entrepreneurs export to the United States are basically Filipino products so instant noodles with different flavors of batchoy, ketchup,” he told reporters in a separate interview.

“These are still not mainstream products in the United States, but they are mainstream products in oriental stores,” he said.

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“I think this is just too small for America to really put their tariff on so I am confident that we will continue,” he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ignored questions about the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on the sidelines of an event in Mandaluyong, but Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go said that the chief executive has already met with his Cabinet’s economic cluster earlier this week.

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Finance ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to meet on April 10 to tackle the region’s stance on Trump’s reciprocal dues, he said.

“Let’s see what we can agree on there and see what we can do to be able to work hand in hand as ASEAN,” Roque said.

“We have to listen to what our asean partners have to say at maguusap kami ng presidente talaga what our direction will be but for now its good for us to listen and to really see how we can make the best out of this meeting,” she said.

As of 2024, the United States remains to be the Philippines' largest export market, with exported goods amounting to $12.12 billion, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

This amount is 16.6 percent of the Philippines’ total exports for the said year.