PH-US Trade Relations
The Philippines and the United States have long enjoyed strong and robust trade relations. The United States is the Philippines’ 3rd largest trading partner following Japan and China. Total Philippines – U.S. bilateral merchandise trade steadily increased in 2017 ($17.44B), 2018 ($18.70B) and 2019 ($19.64B). The Philippines benefits from a slight trade surplus with the United States, with its bilateral merchandise trade relationship, covering a range of products including electronics, industrial materials, processed food, and agriculture.
The start of 2021 saw the US economy surging back from the COVID recession. While this recovery is still in progress, the need for consumer goods and raw materials for manufacturing reached historic levels at the end of Q2 2021. A July 2022 report from the US Department of Commerce states that at the macro-level, the revival of the US economy impacted US – Philippines trade flow positively. Bilateral trade grew by 23.4% in 2021 to $23.3 billion, recovering from the 11.4% decline the previous year due to lockdowns that restricted mobility of people and hampered the shipment of goods. In 2021, the Philippines ranked as the 33rd largest export destination for U.S. products and the 30th largest source of U.S. merchandise imports. (Source: US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration)
Philippine exports to the US from January to June 2021 rose to $6.5B from $5B for the same period in 2020, also outpacing the 2019 aggregated value of about $6.2B for Q1+Q2. (Source Philippine Trade and Investment Center – Washington DC Office)
Total Philippine exports to Hawaii in 2021 was valued at $ 164,569 and has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels of $2,106,117 in 2019.
Philippine merchandise exports to Hawaii are ranked as follows:
|
RANK |
DESCRIPTION |
JAN TO MAY 2021 |
JAN TO MAY 2022 |
||
|
VALUE |
% SHARE |
VALUE |
% SHARE |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL PH EXPORTS |
74,774 |
100.00 |
28,506 |
100.00 |
|
|
FOB VALUE IN US$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Imitation jewelry, of other non-precious metal |
14,068 |
18.81 |
24,643 |
86.45 |
|
2 |
Gloves, mittens and mitts, not knitted or crocheted |
10,752 |
14.38 |
1,767 |
6.20 |
|
3 |
Newspapers, journals and periodicals, other than those published at least four times a week |
1,894 |
2.53 |
650 |
2.28 |
|
4 |
Ornamental fish, live |
4,800 |
6.42 |
600 |
2.10 |
|
5 |
Women's or girls' dresses, of synthetic fibers, not knitted or crocheted |
0 |
0.00 |
510 |
1.79 |
|
6 |
Parts and accessories for musical instruments |
0 |
0.00 |
131 |
0.46 |
|
7 |
Gloves, mittens and mitts, specially designed for use in sports, of leather or of composition leather |
0 |
0.00 |
105 |
0.37 |
|
8 |
Personal and household effects of travelers and immigrants |
1,882 |
2.52 |
100 |
0.35 |
|
9 |
Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacore), (excluding liver and roe), fresh or chilled |
6,000 |
8.02 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
10 |
Gifts, donations and articles for relief, educational, scientific and charitable purposes |
2,000 |
2.67 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
11 |
Axes, bill hooks and similar hewing tools |
580 |
0.78 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
12 |
Quilted textile products in the piece, composed of one or more layers of textile materials assembled with padding by stitching |
14,685 |
19.64 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
13 |
Dolls, whether or not dressed |
881 |
1.18 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
14 |
Other cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes |
3,889 |
5.20 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
15 |
Imitation jewelry, of base metal, whether or not plated with precious metal |
100 |
0.13 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
16 |
Samples |
116 |
0.16 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
17 |
Fish fillets, fresh or chilled |
12,000 |
16.05 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
18 |
Bedspreads, not knitted or crocheted |
1,127 |
1.51 |
0 |
0.00 |
(Source: Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and DTI-EMB, as of July 29, 2022)
In 2021, Hawaii exported $339M worldwide. The top exports of Hawaii were ferrous waste or scrap ($53.3M), aircraft parts ($44.7M), biodiesel ($36M), crustaceans ($21.5M) and potable water ($12.7M). In 2021, the Philippines imported $3.8M worth of general commodities from Hawaii, making the Philippines the 17th largest receiving destination of Hawaii’s exports. (Source: Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism Research & Economic Analysis, State of Hawaii)
Major Philippine corporations that have a presence in the State of Hawaii include Jollibee, Max’s Fried Chicken, Metrobank, Yellow Cab, and Potato Corner.
For American companies looking to source products from the Philippines, the country is a beneficiary of the United States Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program, which grants duty-free access for thousands of Philippine-made products when imported into the United States. In 2019, the Philippines exported an estimated $1.6B of its products to the U.S. under the GSP.
For more information, contact any of the Philippine trade offices in the United States:
Capital
Kenneth T. Yap
Commercial Counsellor
Philippine Trade and Investment Center
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone: +1.202.467.9419
Jurisdiction: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia
Northeast and Midwest
Benedict M. Uy
Trade Commissioner
Philippine Trade & Investment Center
Philippine Consulate General
556 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10036
Phone : +1.212.5757925
E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Eastern Canada
Northwest
May Niña Celynne P. Layug
Trade Commissioner
Philippine Trade and Investment Center
Philippine Consulate General
447 Sutter Street, Suite 405, San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone : +1.408.9809637 / +1.415.7732336
Fax : +1.408.9809823/ +1.415.7731813
E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jurisdiction: Alaska, Northern Nevada/Reno, Colorado, Northern California, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming and Western Canada
Southwest
Philippine Trade and Investment Center
Philippine Consulate General
Suite 602, 3250 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90010
Phone : +1.213.3881029 / 3888376
Fax : +1.213.3884739
E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jurisdiction: Southern California covering the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern, and San Luis Obispo; Southern Nevada covering the counties of Clark, Lincoln and Nye; State of Arizona (covering all counties); State of New Mexico (covering all counties); and State of Texas (covering all counties)
