Philippines-UK trade expected to rise this year

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April 19, 2026 | 12:00am

Due to trade scheme changes

MANILA, Philippines — Bilateral trade between the Philippines and United Kingdom is expected to increase this year following enhancements made to an existing preferential trade arrangement.

During the Makati Business Club’s Foreign Leaders Series event, UK Ambassador Sarah Hulton told reporters that the aim is to continue to see growth in trade with the Philippines, amid recent enhancements to the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which cuts tariffs, removes conditions and simplifies trading rules for beneficiary countries.

“That’s definitely the intent. The ambition is definitely there,” she said.

Among the enhancements made to the UK DCTS this year is to enable the Philippines to source out inputs from across Asia and support inter-regional trade.

It also liberalized the rules of origin to allow Philippine garment manufacturers to retain duty-free exports to the UK even if it uses 100 percent of inputs from another country for further manufacturing.

Hulton said that the Philippines’ current DCTS utilization rate is at 92 percent.

Trade between the Philippines and UK reached around £3.2 billion in 2025, up by 8.9 percent from the previous year.

Apart from DCTS, she said the popularity of Philippine products like ube is also expected to support higher trade.

“It may seem like a small thing, but food, I think, is often where familiarity and understanding begin and these everyday encounters are quietly deepening those ties,” she said.

According to Hulton, the UK also welcomes the Philippines’ application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“This reflects the Philippines’ strong track record in trade and clear commitment to the high international standards and industries-based trading order,” she said.

The UK is part of the CPTPP, which is a high-standards free trade agreement covering a region that represents 15 percent of global gross domestic product growth.

Other countries part of the CPTPP are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.