REGION’S LEADERS AGAINST PROTECTIONISM

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that the Asean leaders might release a general statement against protectionism as the Asean Summit concludes tomorrow.

Lopez told reporters on the sidelines of the Prosperity for All Summit 2017 that there was a draft of the statement calling for regional integration.

While he did not drop any specific quote from the statement, he said that Southeast Asian leaders sought to push forward the benefits of integration, which helps out more people as opposed to inwardlooking policies.

“It has something to do with the benefits of integration, which go down to the majority. It’s a better quality of livelihood in the grassroots. Any move to reverse that track toward globalization is really more difficult,” he said yesterday.

He did not specify if the statement would mention any specific countries that called for protectionism.

When asked for further clarification, he said in a text message to the Inquirer that the draft “might change.”

However, recent events have seen the rise of protectionist rhetoric in the global arena, a battle cry which has been popular especially during national elections such as those in the United States and France.

Nontariff barriers are some of the ways that protectionism could take form. These are restrictions to imports or exports through means other than the imposition of tariffs such as import quotas or unnecessary customs requirements.

According to a joint study by the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia and the United Nations Conference