The proponents of the silly and unthinking proposal to boycott Chinese products just to get back at China for its constant and habitual incursions into Philippine waters and bullying of our Philippine Coast Guard and fishermen appear to be unconcerned — and couldn’t care less about the damage such a boycott could affect negatively the trade relations between China and the Philippines.
In their desire to project themselves as nationalists and patriots obviously for future electoral forays for higher positions, they have completely disregarded the economic benefits arising from the imports and exports of the two countries.
Their pretended nationalism and bogus patriotism is so nauseating that their falsities should be unmasked.
These falsies should be educated through the facts and figures culled from a research of a reputable agency. These are the Philippine exports to China for 2022 as follows: Machinery, $703.68 million; edible fruits, $520.66 million; mineral fuels, distillates, $483.85 million; and optical photo, etc., $258.11 million.
“In 2021, China exported $48.9B to the Philippines. The main products that China exported to the Philippines are refined petroleum ($3.28B, Integrated Circuits ($1.62B, and Broadcasting Equipment ($16B). During the last 26 years, the exports of China to the Philippines have increased at an annualized rate of 16 percent, from 1.03B in 1995 to 48.9B.
“In 2021, the Philippines exported 15.1B to China. The main products that the Philippines exported to China were Integrated Circuits ($5.15B), Nickel Ore ($1.39B), and refined Copper ($1.25B). During the last 26 years, the exports of the Philippines to China have increased at an annualized rate of 17 percent, from $254M in 1995 to $15.1B in 2021.
“Among the top drivers for Philippine agricultural exporter China are fresh fruits, dominated by Cavendish bananas, followed fresh pineapples, Ladyfinger bananas, Solo Papayas, Hass avocados, and young green coconuts.
“The most common destination for the exports of the Philippines are China (15.1B, the United States ($12.3B, Japan ($11.5B), Hongkong ($11.4B) and Singapore ($6.19B).
“In 2021, China accounted for 57 percent of Philippine exports of copper. 71 percent of ores, 65 percent of mineral fuels, 30 percent of fish and crustaceans, and 13 percent of electrical machinery. In terms of imports of iron and steel.”
All of the above statistics show the robust trade exchanges between China and the Philippines. It should be clear by now that despite the conflicting claims by the two countries in the South China Sea, commercial transactions remain constant and on an upward trend and will increase the economic stability of the country. This economic upward projection will be threatened should we pursue the inane boycott proposal.
The majority of the citizenry especially the low-income earning Filipinos have immensely benefited from the cheap manufactured products from China. Adopting a policy of boycott of Chinese products will deprive the poor of the opportunity to purchase affordable merchandise from China. If the latter opts to get even with the contemplated boycott, it may stop its importations to the Philippines and ban the entry of our exports to it. That would be economically disastrous.
There is therefore wisdom in rejecting the blatherskite proposal of boycotting Chinese products. These boycott advocates should think of the national interest and not risk irreparable economic losses by pushing for such a doltish idea.