Ag officials in the Philippines are considering several options to help boost the country’s pork supply and stabilize prices as African swine fever continues to pressure the nation’s pork supply.
USMEF Economist Erin Borror says that includes reducing pork tariff rates. “Currently, the Philippines has the highest tariffs of any major import market,” she says. “Thirty percent tariff on imports of pork cuts and that’s within a 54,000-ton quota. Anything over that, pays a tariff of 40 percent.”
She says consumption of pork in the Philippines has dropped, and the US was the only major pork supplier to post an increase in pork exports to the country last year.
