THE Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PhilExport) said its members are hoping to take advantage of opportunities arising from trade tensions between China and the US.
“Majority of the respondents expressed interest in taking advantage of opportunities the US-China conflict might bring, such as becoming a part of the supply chain of firms that might transfer their business to the Philippines from the US or China,” PhilExport said in a statement on Wednesday, citing the results of a survey.
The survey findings were derived from responses from 51 members, of which close to 53% were small enterprises from various sectors.
Of the 51, 42 or 82.4% are hope to participate in any transfer of manufacturing operations to the Philippines to avoid the tariffs imposed on each other by the US and China.
“This reflects the openness of Philippine exporters to diversifying their respective businesses,” it added.
Members also said the trade tension between China and the United States have had “little” to “no” impact on their businesses.
Some 26 respondents — mostly from the holiday decor sector — ship goods to the US while five export to China.
Of the respondents who are part of the US and/or China supply chains, 12 reported a “slight impact” on their export business, nine reported “no impact,” eight reported “moderate impact” and three said they experienced a significant impact.
“… some Philippine exporters claiming to be either slightly or moderately affected admitted to not having prepared any business plans to counter the impact of the conflict,” it added.
Meanwhile, 22 said they have no export dealings with the US nor China.
PhilExport said the findings suggest that exporters “might need external supplementary help in crafting business plans appropriate for them in situations of economic uncertainty caused by political and even other factors for that matter.”
PhilExport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said: “With the United States and China still in the top three of our biggest trading partners, there may be some impacts especially on Philippine exports of intermediary goods that pass through China to the United States or vice versa.” — Janina C. Lim
