The Philippines will begin negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States in September, its ambassador to Washington said on Thursday, in a bid to expand market access for its agricultural products.
Jose Manuel Romualdez told reporters the first round of talks will be held in Washington and would likely focus on labour, intellectual property and agriculture as Manila looks to boost exports to foreign markets.
“It’s just the start and this will take some time, maybe one or two years,” Romualdez said, adding the Philippines has a $5.4 billion trade surplus with the United States in 2016, one of the country’s top trading partners.
Romualdez said a free trade agreement with the world’s largest economy was likely to be approved given that the Philippines is a much smaller U.S. trading partner than China and Europe, which have become targets of the Trump administration’s “America First” trade agenda.
Trade tensions between Washington and China have escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, threatened 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
Annual two-way trade of goods and services between the Philippines and its long-term ally totaled $27 billion in 2016, according to the Office of U.S. Trade Representative. It would be Washington’s second FTA with a Southeast Asian country after Singapore.
Initial talks on the Philippines-United States FTA were held in November after President Rodrigo Duterte met with U.S Donald Trump during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila.
About 75 percent of Philippine exports to the United States already enter the American market duty-free, but Manila wants to gain market access for its garments and textiles, wristwatches and agricultural products, including top export carrageenan and seaweed. — Reuters

Most U.S. businesses operating in China oppose the use of tariffs in retaliation for the challenges they face, from an uneven playing field to poor protection of intellectual property rights, a survey showed on Thursday.
Almost 69 percent of the 434 respondents to the annual China Business Climate Survey of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai opposed tariffs, while just 8.5 percent backed them, the body said.
“Resolving these challenges in an equitable manner is essential for the United States and China to have a healthy long-term commercial relationship that brings benefits to both our peoples,” it said in a statement on the survey results.
The survey, conducted between April 10 and May 10, reflects the mix of key concerns and realities for American businesses in China at a time of heightened uncertainty as the Trump administration raises the ante in its trade war with Beijing.
U.S. President Donald Trump has accused China of unfair trade practices that give its firms an advantage, while hobbling American companies and creating an outsized trade deficit for the United States.
On Tuesday, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it would impose 10 percent tariffs on an extra $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, from food products to tobacco, chemicals, coal, steel and aluminum.
The survey showed that while U.S. companies continue to face challenges in China, 34 percent of respondents felt Chinese government policies toward foreign companies had improved, up from 28 percent last year.
The number of companies that felt policies had worsened for foreign firms fell to 23 percent from 33 percent, although 60 percent of respondents felt China’s regulatory environment lacked transparency, on par with last year.
Insufficient intellectual property rights protection and the need to get licences were the top two regulatory challenges, although slightly fewer companies found both to be a hindrance in the 2018 poll, compared with that of 2017.
To force greater market access, 42 percent of respondents favoured investment reciprocity, up from 40 percent last year. But the number opposing it also grew, to 16 percent, from 9 percent last year. The number of those unsure fell to 31 percent from 44 percent.
“Despite the relative optimism our members feel guarded about the future,” AmCham said in its statement.
Concerns such as government favouritism for domestic firms and pressure on U.S. ones in strategically important sectors to transfer technology were “stoking demand for reciprocity in the U.S.-China trading relationship, even if our members generally oppose the use of retaliatory trade tariffs,” it added.
The biggest operational challenge of all was rising costs, an issue confronting more than 95 percent of respondents, the poll showed. More than 85 percent of respondents saw domestic competition as a challenge.
The proportion of companies expecting to be profitable was basically flat, at about 77 percent, but firms signalled they were pulling back slightly on investment.
The survey showed 53 percent of companies increased investment in 2017, down from 55 percent the year before, highlighting a trend of reduced investment growth since a 2012 peak, when 74 percent of respondents said they had boosted investment in China. — Reuters

Speaking in a Palace press briefing on Thursday morning, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. insisted that, despite rising inflation levels, “there is no problem with the economy.”
This was in response to Vice-President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo’s comment that President Rodrigo R. Duterte should “focus on the economy instead of insulting her and God.”
“Sabi ko na nga po, paulit-ulit and it’s a matter of record, na we are the second fastest growing economy in the world,” Mr. Roque said. “The level of optimism is [at an] all time high, manufacturing output is [at an] all time high.”
Mr. Roque conceded that quickly rising inflation rates are an issue that warrants concern, but stressed that the weakening peso is a direct result of the administration’s national infrastructure push.
“Otherwise, all economies in the world will agree that we are a darling economy,” he said. “Our strategy is ‘Build, Build, Build’ using the national budget to steer the economy and… continue with the tremendous economic gains.”
Mr. Roque continued by addressing the Vice President directly, saying that while he understands she must feel hurt by President Duterte’s recent comments, she should take his remarks as an “honest assessment” of her abilities.
“Alam ko pong nasaktan kayo, pero iyong assessment po ni Presidente is an assessment of one who has served almost 30 years in an elective position, in addition to his 10 years being a public prosecutor,” Mr. Roque said.
“Maybe we should look into the merits of what he said, especially since, alam naman nating lahat na experience ni Vice President is three years as a Congresswoman, and two years as a Vice President,” he said. “Wala naman pong malisya doon sa assessment. It’s just a frank, honest, objective assessment of the President.”
Mr. Roque continued: “Otherwise po, hindi na niya hihingin na iyong transition leader should be elected. If he feels that the country will be safe in the hands of the Vice President. So iyon lang po iyon. It’s an honest assessment.”