Ford May Get Tariff Relief For Imports Into Philippines.(Brief Article)

The Philippines' Board of Investments (BOI) is inclined to endorse lower duties on the planned import of semi-knocked down vehicles by Ford Motor Philippines Corp. Inc., a unit of Ford Motor Co., Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas II said. Roxas said he is "favorably disposed" to approve the proposed imports of such vehicles by Ford Philippines.

His response is predicated on Ford having established assembly facilities in the country, with plans to export part of the output, employing Filipinos and starting to use several local suppliers for its needs, Roxas said.

Ford Philippines has constructed an assembly plant in the country with total investments estimated to reach 4.2 billion pesos ($83.7 million). The facility could produce up to 25,000 units. But the BOI, which Roxas chairs, is silent on a similar proposal for the import of semi-knocked down Volkswagen vehicles by local firm Auto Prominence Corp. Auto Prominence earlier committed to invest 2.2 billion pesos ($43.8 million) for an auto assembly facility in northern Philippines but it failed to push through with the project.

The Office of the President, which bases its decisions on BOI's recommendations, gives the final approval for the import of semi-knocked down units into the country. Semi-knocked down vehicles are subject to a much lower 3 percent tariff, compared with the 30 percent import duty on fully built units. A semi-knocked down unit is almost a complete vehicle, except that it does not have tires and batteries.

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