WTO: Asia faces surging export growth
November 10, 2025 | 10 AM
BusinessMirror
By Andrea E. San Juan
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ESPITE the uncertainty hounding global trade brought by tariff showdowns, Asia will record the fastest merchandise export volume growth this year, owing to exports of AI-related products, according to the latest forecast of the World
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Trade Organization (WTO). According to WTO’s report on G20 Trade Measures, “If current assumptions hold, Asia should record the fastest merchandise export volume growth of any region in 2025 [5.3 percent].” It is worth noting that WTO revised its original forecast in April 2025 as well as its estimates in August 2025 after the world saw
a “stronger-than-expected trade growth” in the first half of the year. “The Report arrives against the backdrop of an unprecedented rise in trade policy uncertainty and sharply higher tariffs imposed by one of the WTO’s most important Members. The changed trade policy environment since the start of the year prompted WTO econo-
mists to adjust their forecasting methodology, adopting a dual approach that blends conventional econometric estimates with policy simulations to account for the impact of tariffs,” WTO noted. As for the merchandise trade volume growth, the global trade body revised upwards its forecast for Asia to 5.3 percent growth See “Growth,” A3
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EXTERNAL DEBT SERVICE BURDEN DIPS TO $8.427B www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Monday, November 17, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 40
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INC, UPI PRESS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY Members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo gather at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on November 16, 2025, for the three-day “Rally for Transparency and a Better Democracy,” a mass action led by the influential religious organization known for its bloc-voting membership and nationwide reach. Across the city at the EDSA People Power Monument, retired generals under the United People’s Initiative Fighting Corruption mounted a separate protest. Both groups called for accountability over alleged anomalies in flood-control and climate-related projects. Stories in A4 and A12. NONIE REYES, ROY DOMINGO & NONOY LACZA
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By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HE country’s external debt service burden (DSB) dipped to $8.427 billion in the first eight months of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Latest data from the BSP showed the DSB declined by 3.42 percent to $8.427 billion from January to August 2025 from $8.726 billion in the same period last year. DSB is the total principal and interest payments the country has to pay after the debt has been rescheduled. The bulk of the DSB during the
eight-month period consisted of interest payments amounting to $5.215 billion. This marginally dropped by 0.43 percent year-on-year to $5.215 billion from $5.238 billion. On the other hand, principal payments went down by 7.88 percent year-on-year to $3.212 billion from $3.487 billion. See “Debt,” A2
PORK, CHICKEN PUSH UP 9-MO MEAT IMPORT ARRIVALS 13.8% By Ada Pelonia
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@adapelonia
EAT import arrivals rose by 13.8 percent to over 1.1 million metric tons (MMT) as of September on the back of higher pork and chicken purchases abroad, based on the latest government data. The country imported a total of 1.18 MMT during the January to September period, from the 1.04 MMT recorded volume during the same period of 2024,
based on Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data. Pork shipments held the lion’s share of imports in the reference period, growing by 22.23 percent to 632,991 metric tons (MT) from 517,860 MT last year. The bulk of the imports consisted of pork cuts and offal, at 260,726 MT and 208,516 MT, respectively. BAI data showed that chicken purchases abroad grew by 6.42 percent to 368,079 MT as See “Import,” A2
Govt drive vs subpar steel materials cited
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TEEL manufacturers are encouraged by the government’s crackdown efforts on substandard steel and other construction materials, according to Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI). PISI, an iron and steel industry group, said this in a statement over the weekend, after PISI president Ronald Magsajo received a letter from the Department of Trade and Industry-Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (DTI-FTEB) acting director Marimel Porciuncula saying the bureau would file cases against Flores Commercial
and Wan Chiong Steel, which were found to have sold non-compliant deformed bars based on FTEB testing. “We continue to support the government’s drive to ensure public safety by removing substandard steel from the market and penalize retailers and manufacturers found to be non-compliant with Fair Trade Laws,” Magsajo said. The copy of the letter, which was obtained by the BusinessMirror from Magsajo, divulged the evaluation of results of “alleged erring retailers” of See “Govt,” A4
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 59.1140 n JAPAN 0.3825 n UK 77.9950 n HK 7.6070 n CHINA 8.3300 n SINGAPORE 45.4618 n AUSTRALIA 38.5837 n EU 68.7791 n KOREA 0.0402 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.7642 Source: BSP (November 14, 2025)