Manila: The Philippines has been granted permission to export 145,235 metric tons of raw value (MTRV) of raw cane sugar to the United States at a reduced tariff rate for the second consecutive fiscal year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), reports Philstar Global.
For fiscal year 2025, which spans from October 1 to September 30, 2025, the Philippines received the third largest allocation from the USTR, following the Dominican Republic (189,343 MTRV) and Brazil (155,993 MTRV).
This marks the second consecutive fiscal year that the country has been allocated a 145,235 MT raw sugar export quota (TRQ) by the US under its tariff rate quota system.
The TRQ system permits certain countries to export specific quantities of a product to the US at a comparatively low tariff.
Earlier, the Philippines chose not to utilize the initial quota allocation for the current fiscal year 2024 due to concerns regarding domestic sugarcane production.
However, in November of last year, the government requested a reallocation from the US to help reduce the country’s raw sugar stocks, increase farm-gate prices of sugarcane, and maintain profitable margins for planters.
The US approved the Philippines’ request, granting a reallocated quota of 25,300 MTRV of raw sugar. The government plans to fulfil this reallocated quota in the coming weeks before the current fiscal year concludes on September 30.
The Philippines has not exported any raw sugar to the US in the past two crop years (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) due to a domestic output shortfall.
The US has been the Philippines’ longest-standing trade partner in sugar, dating back to 1796. It has consistently been the priority market for the country’s raw sugar exports.
In related news, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board issued Sugar Order (SO) 3, approving the export of 25,300 MTRV of raw sugar to the US under its TRQ system.
The SO was signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who chairs the SRA board, SRA Administrator and CEO Pablo Luis Azcona, board members David Sanson and Mitzi Mangwag, as well as Agriculture Undersecretary Roger Navarro as the alternate ex-officio chairman.
The SO is set to take effect three days after being filed with the Office of the National Registrar at UP Law Center on July 26.
The STAR previously reported that the government was expediting the export of raw sugar to the US to boost domestic raw sugar farm-gate prices by reducing some of the country’s supply amid declining market demand.
