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Saturday, May 17, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 216
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Tariff truce spurs Pacific trade rush, boosting global shippers
AN aerial view of the bustling Qingdao Port container terminal in Shandong province, eastern China. The port is expected to experience increased traffic as Chinese exporters rush to ship goods to the United States during a 90-day reprieve from steep tariffs, boosting global freight volumes and container rates. XUEJINGWEN | DREAMSTIME.COM
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MPORTERS rushing to ship Chinese goods to the United States using a short reprieve from paralyzing tariffs could provide a much-needed boost to global freighters. The surprise truce between the US and China, temporarily bringing down tariffs on each other’s goods, will probably give way to a surge in transpacific shipping in the coming weeks, lifting earnings for Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, and Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Loh. The US has reduced combined levies on most Chinese imports to 30 percent from 145 percent for a period of 90 days, while the 125-percent Chinese duties on US goods will drop to 10 percent . Danish shipping giant Maersk saw an increase in bookings in the hours after the trade deal was announced, a welcome reprieve after cutting its forecast earlier this month. While escalating trade tensions darkened the sector’s outlook earlier this year and caused US-bound shipments from China to drop by a fifth in April, things are looking up again. Hapag-Lloyd AG, the world’s No. 5 container carrier, said it’s handling a “huge surge” in volumes this week. Volumes are up more than 50 percent compared with recent weeks, with bookings from China to the US particularly strong, Chief Executive Officer Rolf Habben Jansen said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The trade agreement was “good news,” Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of privately owned CMA CGM SA, said in a hearing in the French Senate on Monday. He added that the world’s third-largest container carrier had lost 50 percent of its volumes toward the US since the start of the trade war. “We’re likely to see a renewed front-loading surge as exporters and importers alike in China and the US attempt to capitalize on the steep cut in tariffs during this 90-day pause,” according to BI’s Loh. This wave of pent-up demand is pushing up freight rates, which had been sliding since the beginning of the year, in turn boosting earnings for shipping companies.
SUNSET falls over Manila’s industrial port as cargo cranes stand still—a stark symbol of Asia-Pacific’s slowing trade. A recent APEC Policy Support Unit report warns of a regional economic deceleration, with growth forecasted to drop to 2.6% in 2025 amid escalating trade tensions, rising protectionism, and policy uncertainty. Export growth is expected to plummet, and global market volatility has surged, casting long shadows over the region’s recovery prospects. YOORAN PARK | DREAMSTIME.COM
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By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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SCALATING trade tensions and lingering policy uncertainties are casting long shadows over the economic outlook for Asia and the Pacific, with growth in the region seen losing steam in the coming years, according to the latest economic report by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Policy Support Unit.
Source: APEC Regional Trends Analysis, May 2025, APEC Policy Support Unit
Released just ahead of the Apec Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Jeju, South Korea, the report forecasted regional economic growth to decelerate sharply to 2.6 percent in 2025 and 2.7 percent in 2026, down from 3.6 percent in 2024. “From tariff hikes and retal-
is hurting business confidence and leading many firms to delay investments and new product launches until the situation becomes more predictable.” According to the report, economic and trade activities across Apec’s 21 member economies have slowed markedly. Export growth is expected to
iatory measures to the suspension of trade facilitation procedures and the proliferation of non-tariff barriers, we are witnessing an environment that is not conducive to trade,” APEC Policy Support Unit director Carlos Kuriyama said. He added, “This uncertainty
Caunan replaces Arnel Ignacio as OWWA chief By Samuel P. Medenilla
plummet to just 0.4 percent in 2025, compared to 5.7 percent last year. On one hand, import volumes are projected to inch up by a meager 0.1 percent, a drastic slowdown from the 4.3 percent growth in 2024. “What worries us a lot is that all of these uncertainties could afContinued on A2
HMO sector’s Q1 net income surges 8,000% to ₧579.4M By Reine Juvierre Alberto
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HE health maintenance organization (HMO) industry saw its net income surge by more than 8,000 percent year-onyear in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Insurance Commission (IC). Data from the IC showed total net income of the HMO industry shot up by 8,441 percent to P579.39 million in the first quarter from P6.78 million in the same period a year ago. Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo A. Regalado said the significant increase reflects the industry’s sustained recovery from the impact of the pandemic as mem-
bership fees increased. Regalado said membership fees accounted for 97.52 percent of the HMO industry’s total revenues, which also increased by 26.15 percent. The IC said the government’s grant of P7,000 in medical allowance for qualified government employees to avail themselves of HMO coverage spurred the growth in membership fees. “These statistical growths are not just mere numbers. They are reassuring indicators that the HMO industry continues to be a strong and reliable industry that affords Filipinos with healthcare security, ultimately uplifting Filipino lives,” Regalado said.
“These statistical growths are not just mere numbers. They are reassuring indicators that the HMO industry continues to be a strong and reliable industry that affords Filipinos with healthcare security, ultimately uplifting Filipino lives.”—Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo A. Regalado
Meanwhile, the HMO industry’s total expenses, including income tax, grew by 20.02 percent to P22.41 billion in the first quarter from P18.67 billion in the same period last year. The growth was driven by the 17.41 percent year-on-year rise in healthcare benefits and claims paid, which comprises 78.87 percent of the industry’s total expenses. The sector’s total assets climbed by 22.67 percent year-onyear to P87.48 billion in the first quarter from P71.31 billion. The IC said the expansion was due to the increases in net membership fee receivables, financial Continued on A2
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RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan as the new administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). She replaced former OWWA administrator Arnaldo “Arnel” A. Ignacio. As of press time, DMW has not disclosed the reason for the change in leadership in OWWA. Caunan took her oath of office before DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac on May 16, 2025. She thanked the President and Cacdac for giving her the opportunity to head OWWA, which is an attached agency of DMW tasked to develop and implement welfare programs and services for its member overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families. “I am sincerely grateful for the trust and confidence our President has placed in me, and of course, for your continued guidance. I am very fortunate—because my two bosses in government truly had integrity and concern for OFWs,” Caunan said in Filipino. Prior to her designation in DMW in 2022, Caunan was an advocate for migrant workers’ rights and gives free legal assistance and advice to OFWs in various forums through her law firm which specializes in labor, civil, administrative and criminal cases.
OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan
As DMW Undersecretary for Policy and International Cooperation, she handled negotiations for new bilateral labor agreements with other countries. She led in the forging of 15 bilateral labor agreements with countries such as Canada, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Croatia, Slovenia, and Kuwait. DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac described Caunan as a trailblazer in the DMW for forging multiple deals, which enhanced the protection and welfare of OFWs abroad. “She has been a trailblazer, that’s even an understatement. The frontier she has opened for bilateral and international cooperation has been amazing. She has the legal know-how, the heart, the common sense, and the common touch, which is the most important,” Cacdac said.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.7770 n JAPAN 0.3832 n UK 74.2225 n HK 7.1451 n CHINA 7.7396 n SINGAPORE 42.9947 n AUSTRALIA 35.7196 n EU 62.4200 n KOREA 0.0399 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8711 Source: BSP (May 16, 2025)