Philippine exports grew at their slowest pace in eight months in August after the United States imposed a 19-percent headline tariff on Aug. 7, 2025.
Total export sales in August 2025 amounted to $7.06 billion, up 4.6 percent from $6.75 billion a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Monday. In July 2025, exports went up 17.6 percent year-on-year.
The August performance brought total merchandise exports in the first eight months of the year to $55.70 billion, an annual increase of 12.6 percent from $49.45 billion a year earlier.
Merchandise exports to the US fell 11.2 percent to $1.09 billion in August 2025 from $1.22 billion a year ago.
Eight-month exports to the US still grew 9.1 percent to $8.85 billion from $8.11 billion a year earlier, mainly due to strong shipments in the first seven months before the new tariff took effect.
Electronic products remained the country’s top exports in August with total earnings of $3.87 billion, or 54.8 percent of total exports, the PSA said. This was followed by other mineral products with an export value of $384.26 million (5.4 percent) and machinery and transport equipment with $363.65 million (5.1 percent).
By major trading partner, exports to Hong Kong comprised the highest export value at $1.19 billion, followed by the United States ($1.09 billion), Japan ($979.00 million, 13.9 percent), China ($849.32 million, 12.0 percent) and Taiwan ($292.18 million).
Meanwhile, Philippine imports amounted to $10.60 billion in August 2025, a decline of 4.9 percent from $11.15 billion in the same month of 2024. In July 2025, the import value recorded an annual increase of 5.8 percent.
Eight-month imports reached $88.08 billion, up 5.1 percent from $83.78 billion a year earlier.
The commodity group with the highest import value in August 2025 was electronic products, which amounted to $2.74 billion, or 25.8 percent of total imports. This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at $1.18 billion (11.1 percent) and transport equipment at $883.37 million (8.3 percent).
The Philippines incurred a trade deficit of $3.54 billion in August 2025 and $32.38 billion in eight months, data from the PSA showed.
