RP seeks tariff perk from US for refined sugar

The Trade department will ask Washington to allow the duty-free entry of refined sugar into the US, it said on Monday. In a statement, the agency also said it would seek the same trade privilege for seven other Philippine products even if these exceeded their export quotas last year. The petitions come as the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) conducts its yearly review of goods eligible for its Generalized System of Preferences, which is a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization. The US agency earlier said it would consider exempting refined cane and beet sugar from the Philippines from duty this year. The Philippines enjoys tariff preferences only for its raw cane sugar exports. Refined sugar from the Philippines did not receive duty-free treatment last year, USTR data showed. It was not exported to the US last year. This year however, the Trade department is taking advantage of the USTR announcement, saying it would be "pushing for... trade benefits." If granted, Philippine sugar millers will likely take US orders for refined sugar on top of the demand for its raw variant, a Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) official said. The US only ordered raw sugar from the Philippines in the past possibly to protect operations of American refineries, SRA Administrator Aida F. Ignacio said in a telephone interview. "But if they want us now to export refined sugar, that wouldn’t be a problem for us," she added. Aside from sugar, other goods included in the Trade department’s petition to the US are electric car batteries, exposure meters, twine, processed citrus fruits, coffee products, rattan mats,and palm leaf crafts. These seven products had enjoyed duty-free treatment last year unlike refined sugar, but could stand to lose that privilege after cornering more than half of US imports in 2009, a criteria dubbed as the "competitive need limit." But this limit may be waived for a year under the rules because sales of these products did not exceed $19.5 million. "[Our petition] will highlight the imminent loss in Philippine exporters’ competitiveness and the likely adverse impact on labor and investments from economic displacement in affected sectors [if the duty-free treatment for the seven products is rescinded]," the Trade department said. Slapping tariffs on these products could hurt their price competitiveness and threaten export sales, which hit $5.78 million last year, it added.