MANILA – The Philippines seeks to negotiate with the United States to lower the 12.5 percent tariff slapped on the country’s exports over its supposed failure to curb importation of goods produced with forced labor.
Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez said Manila “will look to lowering it to at least 10 percent.”
“We have been in continuous discussion. Technically, 12.5 percent is still much lower than the previous 19 percent, which was scrapped by the US Supreme Court,” he said in a text message on Friday.
READ: US slaps Philippine exports with new 12.5% tariff
“We are going to negotiate on the basis that we will remove the child labor goods from our list of exports if it is proven to be so,” he added.
