Manila Bulletin
Philippines
Mindanao
'Consuelo de bobo,' says Mayor Duterte of US' 1% tariff reduction on PH goods
Philippines
Mindanao
'Consuelo de bobo,' says Mayor Duterte of US' 1% tariff reduction on PH goods
'Consuelo de bobo,' says Mayor Duterte of US' 1% tariff reduction on PH goods
By Ivy Tejano
Published Jul 27, 2025 05:06 pm
MAYOR Duterte (FB)
DAVAO CITY – Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte downplayed the one percent reduction of the 20 percent tariff imposed on Philippine goods to 19 percent as an empty gesture, calling it “consuelo de bobo” or a false consolation.
Duterte questioned the importance of the announcement and how the deal was made and urged the public to ask for clear information on how the Philippines’ trade deal compared to those of other countries that got better terms.
“To put it into perspective, we need to see what negotiations happened with other countries and what reductions they could secure. I think we can pull up the data for the public to see,” Duterte added.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s recent trade talks with United States President Donald Trump led to a modest outcome – a one percentage point cut in the current 20 percent tariff on Philippine exports, scheduled to take effect next month.
In return for this slight concession – still above the original 17 percent rate introduced by Trump in April – the Philippines has agreed to eliminate tariffs on American automobiles and other products while committing to increasing its imports from the US.
Following their meeting last Tuesday (US time), Trump announced on social media that Philippine goods would now face a 19 percent tariff, provided that the Philippines maintains an “open market” stance towards US exports.
Duterte slammed Marcos for praising the mere one percent tariff cut. “You just went to the US for a one percent discount? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Davao City first district Rep. Paolo Duterte also weighed in on tariff cut that he descibed as an unfinished negotiation.
“Accordingly, the negotiation has not even been finished yet. So that was just a test run? Well, at least it got reduced by one percent. Congratulations to one percent. Ridiculous,” Rep. Duterte said in a local dialect.
Rep. Duterte said that the reduced tariff might benefit American exporters more than Filipino businesses. “If I were a businessman, I’d buy from America and ship the goods here. That way, I’d make a huge profit easily.”
Marcos’ sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, questioned the tariff arrangement forged by the Philippine president with his American counterpart, which heavily favors American imports.
Marcos and his economic team traveled to Washington D.C. to push for lower tariffs, following Trump’s July 9 announcement that tariffs on Philippine goods would rise from 10 to 20 percent, citing concerns over the trade imbalance.
According to the latest figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the United States was the largest market for Philippine exports in May, accounting for 15.3 percent or approximately $1.115 billion.
China remained the Philippines’ top source of imports, representing 29.7 percent or $3.13 billion, while the US ranked fifth, contributing only 6.1 percent of imports, valued at $647.34 million.