MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ finance chief on Friday said the country is “sort of insulated” from risks posed by the worsening trade tensions between the United States and China, which has been upsetting global markets.
“Well, first of all we are growing our market locally so we are very robust. We don’t rely on exports or imports as much as other economies so we are sort of insulated,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said on the sidelines of 2nd Philippine Economic Briefing 2018 in Clark, Pampanga.
But Dominguez made it clear that he is not downplaying any adverse impact that a full-blown trade war could bring to the Philippines.
“We are investing domestically but as I said that is not enough [defense] in any trade war that will affect all countries in the world,” he said. “Nobody wins in a trade war.”
Some economists say the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia could take a hit if the trade spat between the world’s two largest economies escalates further.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese goods. Beijing has responded with its own proposed list of tariffs of a similar amount.
In an attempt to ease the brewing trade war, Chinese President Xi Jinping last Tuesday said Beijing will open its economy and trim import tariffs.