TUCP: Get real, form panel on US tariff impact (2025)

MANILA, Philippines — The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Tuesday called on the government to immediately convene a Tripartite Tariff Task Force that will craft a whole-of-nation plan to shield Filipino workers and industries from the looming threat of higher tariffs from the United States.

TUCP president and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza pictured a scenario of an economic crisis, with the additional levy initially affecting the electronics manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

“Workers, especially in the now-vulnerable sectors of electronics manufacturing and agricultural exports, cannot afford another round of mass layoffs while wages stagnate and prices soar,” Mendoza said in a statement.

“Instead of wasting time on blind optimism and market fatalism, the government, especially our economic managers, should stop downplaying the tariff impact and start leading triple-time to cushion its impact and protect employment, industries, and the economy,” he added.

READ: Put Trump tariff pause to good use

Pro-labor rights

The labor leader also cited a recent survey by the Singapore-based Milieu Insight of more than 6,000 respondents across six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members showing that 61 percent of Filipino respondents expressed skepticism about their government’s ability to handle the impact of tariffs, while 90 percent of Southeast Asians expected higher prices of essential goods.

The task force should bring together “genuine representatives” from the labor, business, and government sectors, according to Mendoza.

Trump earlier announced a 90-day suspension of the higher tariffs announced on April 2, including the 17-percent levy slapped on the Philippines.

“We only have 90 days. That’s not a grace period but a deadline. Let us use this critical window or opportunity of three months to rally all sectors, including labor, to represent the workers who, time and again, will be the first and the worst affected, to draw up a roadmap,” Mendoza said.

“If we don’t form this Tripartite Tariff Task Force now and promote a pro-labor rights pivot in our negotiations [with] America, Filipino workers will be caught once again in the crossfire and become a casualty of the global trade war of economic giants, ” he warned.

Beyond trade officials crunching numbers and diplomats negotiating behind closed doors, the TUCP chief said, the task force will plan “how to diversify trade partners, craft a national industrial policy that maps out the comparative advantage of the country’s provinces and regions, and roll out a just transition program that empowers workers through upskilling, reskilling, and wage and production subsidies.”

Economic affairs special assistant to the President, Frederick Go, is set to head to the United States to negotiate the tariff on Philippine goods entering the American market.

Mendoza said the Philippines needs tariff-free access or a free-trade agreement with the United States.

If the Philippines wanted trade privileges such as the US General System of Preferences (GSP) or better, Mendoza said, “We must show we’re serious about decent work: higher wages, regular jobs, and freedom to form and join a union.”

Under the US GSP, the Philippines has duty-free access for more than 3,500 product lines, but its renewal hinged on annual reviews of labor rights compliance.

“It is only through a pro-labor rights pivot that we can establish the Philippines as the newest global trade and investment hub as an alternative to our neighbors. This means good business and more and better jobs for our people,” Mendoza said.