International News
Tariff Negotiations With US ‘Not Finished’, Says Philippines
Negotiations over the Philippines’ new 19 percent US tariff rate are “not finished”, a key government economic adviser said Thursday, tamping down fears over the deal’s potential impact on the agriculture sector.
President Ferdinand Marcos flew back to the country late Wednesday after a three-day trip to Washington that saw him emerge from a meeting with Donald Trump having shaved a single point off a 20 percent levy on Filipino goods.
What might “seem like a very small concession” was in fact a “significant achievement”, Marcos told reporters who questioned if the Philippines — a longtime US treaty ally — was getting the short end of the stick.
The US president, meanwhile, touted “zero tariffs” on American goods headed to the archipelago nation of 115 million.
But Marcos economic adviser Frederick Go said Thursday that tariffs would not be dropped in every category.
“The negotiations are not yet finished. Our technical working groups will continue to work with their counterparts from America to finalize the details of this arrangement,” he told reporters in Manila.
“There are still many things to be discussed.”
Since the Trump meeting, the Marcos administration has downplayed the potential effects of the tariffs, noting just 16 percent of the country’s exports go to the United States, with about two-thirds being electronic components not subject to levies.
On Thursday, Go said that while tariffs would disappear for certain agricultural products like soy and wheat, key areas such as sugar, corn, rice, fish and pork would remain protected for Filipino farmers.
“I can guarantee to you we studied our biggest industries in the country where we are a significant market producer. We didn’t include those in our arrangements with the United States,” he said.
Go also touted the benefit to Filipino consumers of dropping some tariffs, particularly on pharmaceuticals.
“Medicines are expensive in the Philippines. If they are tariff-free, then that can lower the price of medicine in our country,” he said.
Jesus Felipe, an economics professor at Manila’s De La Salle University, told AFP the actual number of Philippine exports hit by the full tariff would likely be low.
“That’s the number (19 percent) that has been flagged, but our feeling is that many products — a substantial share of Philippine exports to the US — will have to be exempted.”
While predicting the effect on Philippine GDP would effectively be “nothing”, Felipe said the “imperialist attitude” with which the United States was treating smaller countries remained worrying.
Countries with far larger US trade deficits like China, Mexico and Canada had “much more power and leverage” to fight back, he said.
“The Philippines cannot retaliate.”
AFP
Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.
City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.
Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).
Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).
The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).
City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).
They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.
“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.
“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.
“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigerians interested in repatriation from South Africa will be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stated this during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The briefing came shortly after a closed-door meeting between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, and the South African Acting High Commissioner, Lesoli Machele.
Mr Ebienfa said the process will be self-funded and not state-funded, as it is a voluntary decision that the Nigerian government will only facilitate and coordinate.
In the recent past, such reparations have been sponsored by Nigerian airline owners, particularly Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace.
The Nigerian government, on Sunday, indicated its readiness to repatriate its citizens from South Africa due to xenophobic violence.
The effort primarily targets Nigerians who feel threatened by the xenophobic violence and tension in parts of South Africa, as the protests against black immigrants in the country continue. Two Nigerians were killed last month.
Since the announcement, about 130 Nigerians in South Africa have expressed a willingness to return home voluntarily.
Mr Ebienfa stated that the return of the Nigerians depends on their financial capacity, as they would be expected to fund their trip back home individually.
He said, “Those willing to leave are expected to approach the high commission and, given that their decision is voluntary, have the resources to fund their return to Nigeria.”
The government will not “provide an aircraft from Nigeria to convey them.”
He also noted that the speed of the repatriation process will be determined by the availability of funds.
“Yes, 130 as of this morning have registered, but actualisation would be required to have their flight ticket to move back to Nigeria.”
Mr Ebienfa also explained that Nigerians who have so far expressed interest are motivated either by concerns about threats to their lives or by fear of arrest by South African law enforcement agencies.
“There are two groups of Nigerians who want to come back. One group feels the country is not safe for them and wants to come. They have all their papers intact.
“Then there is also the second group that has travel document violations or resident permit violations. And instead of running away from law enforcement, they are appealing that the government facilitate their movement back to Nigeria,” he explained.
However, he noted that the process is still being worked out and that the government would step in to provide aircraft or other needed assistance if tensions rise and the situation becomes more volatile.
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