The Local Footwear And Clothing Industry Of The Philippines May Not Benefit From The TPP

Philippine exporters believe that domestic producers of footwear and clothing industry cannot meet the requirements of overseas importers under the TPP agreement dominated by the United States. The President of the Philippine Export Union, Sergil Odith Louis Jr., said that the World Bank may have misjudged the domestic plight of the Philippines.

Sergil also mentioned that, exporter We are optimistic about the "GSP+" program with the EU, and believe that it can promote trade. Between the Philippines and the European Union“ GSP+ ”It is planned that from December 2014, about 6200 tariff line commodities exported by the Philippines to the EU under this framework can enjoy zero tax rate treatment.

As mentioned in the World Bank report, the Philippines The export volume of clothing industry and footwear industry will decrease by 19% due to market competition among TPP members. Segil believes that the problem of the clothing and footwear industry is not in the market, but in the production link. It is difficult for producers to meet the production requirements of the United States and other importing countries.

Related links:

To expand China South Korea trade cooperation, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Trade and Investment Revitalization Commune (KOTRA) jointly with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Jointly held the "China ROK Joint FTA Application Promotion Conference". Korean experts said at the meeting that since the China South Korea FTA came into effect at the end of 2015, South Korea's imports from China have increased significantly, mainly in the fields of electronic machinery, auto parts and consumer goods.

More than 200 people from Korean and Chinese enterprises attended the seminar. Jin Zaihong, President of the Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Commune, Yin Zonghua, Vice President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and Hong Xiaodong, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce attended and delivered speeches. Yin Zonghua said that the China South Korea FTA is a free trade agreement signed by China with the widest coverage of issues and the largest trade volume involving countries.

In addition, experts at the meeting conducted a detailed interpretation and strategic analysis of China South Korea FTA. Zheng Huanyu, a South Korean expert, said that since the China South Korea FTA came into effect at the end of 2015, South Korea's imports from China have increased significantly, mainly in the fields of electronic machinery, auto parts and consumer goods. South Korean experts believe that the recent slowdown in China's economic growth has led to the weakness of South Korea's exports to China. South Korea's exports to China decreased by 17.6% from January to February.

However, the import market share in China rose to 11.3% from 10.9% in 2015, creating a new historical record. In particular, some consumer goods such as milk powder, dried fruits, chocolate, leather products and so on benefited from the China South Korea FTA, and the export from January to February this year achieved a double-digit growth over last year. In addition to consumer goods, industrial glass products, flat rolled steel products, laser hair removal machines, forging machines and other products also achieved an export growth rate of more than 100%.

At the meeting, Li Haodong, Director of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources of South Korea, stressed that the weak export of South Korea to China has eased recently, and South Korean enterprises need to take advantage of the FTA effect of China and South Korea to actively explore the Chinese consumer market.