Three weeks after that photo-op go to of BBM with Trump on the White Home, we nonetheless don’t know what had been the small print of the tariff settlement he shook arms with Trump on, past the 19 % tariff charge.
Whereas Philippine officers say the duty-free entry of US merchandise is restricted to vehicles, soy, yellow corn, wheat and prescribed drugs, there isn’t a public clarification from US officers relating to the small print or exceptions.
Trump’s bulletins urged broad zero tariffs on US items, with out outlining exclusions like these highlighted by Philippine officers.
Joey Salceda, who was in Washington DC at the moment kibitzing within the talks, stated the Philippines’ present supply to cut back or eradicate tariffs on chosen US agricultural exports stays into account and has not but been formalized.
Nonetheless, Salceda insists that BBM and his negotiators managed to cut back the general affect of the Trump-announced 19 % tariff charge to an efficient charge of simply over six %.
However not one of many essential negotiators has confirmed Joey’s supposition of a six % efficient tariff charge. In different phrases, we’re caught with 19 % and no exclusions on duty-free entry of US exports to the Philippines till additional discover.
The US commerce negotiators could not have the time or the inclination to make clear quickly. They’re additionally afraid of misreading Trump.
Certainly, even Japan, an important commerce companion, isn’t getting readability. Based on the Washington Submit, frustration is mounting in Japan after it realized that Tokyo and Washington have completely different interpretations of a key part of their new commerce deal.
Japanese lawmakers are asking questions and tensions are operating so excessive that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba needed to attempt to clarify the weird, obscure deal his authorities struck with Trump on July 23.
“The opposite occasion [Trump] is just not a standard particular person,” Ishiba instructed annoyed lawmakers in a session on the Japanese parliament. Ishiba, in line with the Washington Submit, defined that his counterpart doesn’t play by the principles of typical commerce agreements and unilaterally adjustments the principles.
“In negotiations like this, implementation is way harder than reaching an settlement,” Ishiba complained.
Apparently, when Japan and the US introduced that they had reached a commerce deal, it was primarily a handshake settlement. “With no provisions dedicated to a proper doc, the actual fact sheets that each governments launched have conflicting data,” the Washington Submit reported.
Each international locations stated the US would impose a 15 % tariff on items from Japan. Tokyo stated any merchandise already topic to tariffs larger than 15 % can be exempt from the brand new taxes. However the govt order Trump signed final week urged the speed can be utilized on high of current levies, together with beef, which faces a 26.4 % tariff.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief commerce negotiator, traveled again to Washington final week to attempt to kind out the discrepancy, the Submit reported. However simply after he landed, the US interpretation was printed within the Federal Register.
Akazawa subsequently introduced that the 2 sides had agreed to Japan’s interpretation. However there was no affirmation from the White Home.
Japan’s expertise revealed the fragility of agreements with the Trump administration and the way “unimaginable, untrustworthy” Washington will be, stated Ryo Sahashi, a global politics professor on the College of Tokyo’s Institute for Superior Research on Asia as quoted by the Submit.
Then it acquired extra difficult. Trump introduced a 100% tariff on “all chips and semiconductors” however he would exempt firms which have plans to transition their manufacturing to the US.
The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries within the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) stated the proposed 100% tariff on semiconductors getting into the US market can be “devastating” to Philippine exporters.
Earlier than Trump’s announcement, Particular Assistant to the President for Funding and Financial Affairs Frederick Go stated that semiconductors and electronics had been exempted from reciprocal tariffs.
That’s what Joey can also be saying: “electronics, wooden, metals, fuels, and chemical substances – are coated by a number of commerce agreements for exemptions.”
The Philippines certainly enjoys exemptions on sectors similar to electronics and semiconductors – notably coated by agreements just like the WTO’s Info Know-how Settlement (ITA) and particular provisions underneath Annex II of Government Order 14257 (April 2, 2025).
Apart from, Salceda identified, that the highest semiconductor producers working within the Philippines already meet the situations outlined by the Trump administration. These firms embrace Texas Devices, Analog Units, AmKor Know-how, STMicroelectronics and ON Semiconductor.
These firms are both headquartered within the US, function manufacturing amenities there or perform underneath US licensing and regulatory management. Their Philippine operations are a part of safe, vertically built-in world provide chains that serve US industrial coverage targets.
If this is the case, why is SEIPI, the commerce group of our semiconductor exporters so nervous? Probably as a result of the claims of Salceda should nonetheless be validated by US officers.
Based on Dr. Rafaelita Mercado Aldaba, emeritus analysis fellow at PIDS, we ship 20 % of our exports to the US valued at $14 billion. These are largely concentrated in electronics similar to semiconductor media, storage gadgets, and ICT (data and communications expertise) elements.
Hindi tayo nag-iisa. Trump early final month introduced that he had negotiated a 20 % charge with Vietnamese negotiators. Besides, it turned out that the Vietnamese believed that that they had negotiated an 11 % charge.
Different international locations – together with India, South Korea and others that secured short-term reduction – are annoyed by the obscure, non-binding nature of many Trump-era “offers,” which lack legally enforceable phrases and are regularly reversed or reinterpreted.
Blended indicators look like intentional. Consultants broadly agree that the ambiguity in Trump’s commerce offers is not unintended. His fashion blends sport principle, negotiation technique and the psychological energy of unpredictability to keep up leverage and adaptability.
And the remainder of the world is predicted to take all of it in to appease Trump, the emperor of the world.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail tackle is [email protected]. Comply with him on X @boochanco