WASHINGTON DC — The Philippines is “hoping” to have a trilateral free trade agreement with the United States and Japan, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday, before leaders of the three countries hold their first trilateral summit here. 

Philippine Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual is “really looking into an FTA” with both the US and Japan, and is expected to meet his counterparts soon, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said in a press conference here.

Free Trade Agreements reduce or remove barriers like tariffs and quotas on imports and exports among parties.

“We are looking at that seriously. We have been working with our attache here in pushing for specific free trade agreements,” Romualdez said.

“I think the United States is more inclined to go into specific sectors for FTA, but the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) — which the United States has initiated, of which we are one of the founding members — is looking at including the entire ASEAN region,” he said.

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Members of the IPEF are expected to have a meeting in Manila next month to tackle proposals for the FTA, the envoy said.

“This is probably where we will be given a more clear picture on where this is going,” he said.

Among the areas that the US wants FTAs in are “cyberspace or in digital technology,” Romualdez said.

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“[The] US has committed itself into really looking at the Philippines as a major investment hub for many American companies,” he added.

Last year, the Philippines and the European Union agreed to restart negotiations to establish an FTA, nine years since talks were because of deadlocks on intellectual property rights, data exclusivity in key industries, and other issues.