MANILA – The Philippines is “not as exposed” to the trade war between the US and China compared to its neighbors, and is likely to maintain domestically-driven economic growth, Moody’s Investor Service said Friday.
Manila can also take advantage of the dispute by positioning its apparel and furniture exports to the US as “perfect substitutes” to Chinese products, said Moody’s vice president and senior credit officer Christian de Guzman.
“The way we see the Philippine growth story is much of that momentum is domestically-driven, and may not be at all impacted by what’s going on in the trade wars,” De Guzman told ANC.
US President Donald Trump earlier this week proposed a higher 25-percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese products, ratcheting up pressure on Beijing.
The tit-for-tat measures between the US and China could disrupt supply chains in Asia, De Guzman said.
“If there are any Chinese goods that are impacted by these tariffs, it could reverberate around the region through supply chain linkages,” he said. (ABS-CBN News)
