Group: Keep tariffs on trucks, buses from China and South Korea

The tariffs slapped on trucks and buses from China and South Korea should be kept amid an influx of imports, many of which are smuggled from those countries. “The little tariff protection will be something of help," Frank Nacua, Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) executive committee member, told a public hearing at the Tariff Commission on Wednesday, noting that there is “rampant" undervaluation of imported buses and trucks from China and South Korea. Government data showed that of the 2,409 buses newly registered with the Land Transportation Office last year, only 423 units were assembled locally, according to the TMA member. Of 20,305 trucks registered last year, only 1,574 were manufactured in the country. “And the rest we did not know where they came from," he said. It has been easy to bring in both new and second-hand buses and trucks from China and South Korea, which are right-hand drive vehicles suitable to the Philippines. Completely built-up trucks and buses are under the Philippines’ “sensitive list" as specified in regional free trade agreements signed by The Association of Southeast Asian Nations with China and South Korea. Trucks from China and South Korea that weigh over six tons are slapped a 20-percent duty, while the tariff on trucks weighing between five and six tons stands at 30 percent and buses weighing six to 18 tons have a 15-percent tariff. Under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA), the most favored nation rates of duty on goods in the sensitive list of ASEAN 6 — Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam — the duties of products in the sensitive list would be reduced to 20 percent by 2012. Such duties would be further slashed to between zero and 5 percent by January 2016 for AKFTA and by January 2018 for ACFTA. “We [TMA] will petition that the prevailing rates be retained until 2016 and 2018 [for AKFTA and ACFTA, respectively]," Nacua told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting. — VS, GMA News