Japan and Philippines reach an agreement on steel tariffs

Japan and Philippines reach an agreement on steel tariffs

As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the talks on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Japanese and Philippine officials failed last week due to the disagreement on the subject of steel tariffs applied by Philippines on Japanese steel products. During the final negotiations, Philippines officials agreed to reduce tariffs on 30% of Japanese steel imports and gradually reduce the remaining levies. The agreement with Philippines will be the third FTA for Japan following the FTAs with Singapore and Mexico. Moreover, the FTA with Philippines is expected to speed up FTA negotiations between Japan and its other Asian trade partners, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.