DTI: US-China trade war drove Q1 exports drop
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Thu, 09 May 2019 16:18:41 +0000
ONGOING trade tensions between the United States and China took its toll on Philippine trading, with exports dipping by 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday.
In a statement, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said “negative sentiments brought [about] by the US-China trade war” were affecting the country, since both Washington and Beijing were its top trading partners.
Merchandise exports plunged to $16.38 billion in January to March from $16.91 billion in the same period last year.
Of these, electronic exports slid by 1.7 percent to $8.8 billion and non-electronic ones dipped by 4.8 percent to $7.5 billion.
Electronic exports are seen to have greatly impacted the dip in total outbound shipments, accounting for more than half.
“According to industry players, global demand for electronic parts and final goods has been shrinking and will continue to weaken in 2019,” Lopez said.
“In the case of the Philippines, this has been mirrored in the decline of exports in certain electronics subsectors, such as components and devices, control and instrumentation, and telecommunication products to major markets like Singapore and Hong Kong,” he added.
The department noted that there were also “weak orders” for machinery, sugar, coconut and wood products.
Besides demand concerns, the department said exporters also raised the issue of transport and logistics costs, which affected the turnaround time for production and shipments.
“Supply issue has affected export mainstays, such as fresh and processed mangoes; season is delayed and shortened due to double whammy of La Niña last year during the flowering season and El Niño this year,” Lopez said.
“In the case of chemicals, there remains the lingering issue of the policy concerning controlled and regulated chemicals, which hampers the turnaround time of our exporters from production to market,” he added.
The Trade chief vowed to address such concerns with relevant agencies in adherence to the Philippine Export Development Plan.
He said his department would like to see a diversification in merchandise exports, with efforts in promoting office equipment, consumer electronics, motor vehicles and motor-vehicle parts, high-value coconut products, forest products and wearables.
For service exports, Lopez wants “more focus” for audiovisual or creative industries, such as film, animation and game development; healthcare information management systems; software development; and tourism-related services.
Despite the first-quarter decline, Lopez is upbeat that exports would post growth in the succeeding quarters.
“From the 2018 total export level of $89 billion, we remain confident that we are still on track in meeting our total export target [of] $122 billion to $130 billion by 2022,” he said. TYRONE C. PIAD
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