Manila protests Toyota bid

Manila protests Toyota bid

MANILA (AFP): Philippine automotive parts manufacturers yesterday protested applications by local units of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. to take part in a Southeast Asian program for preferential tariffs.

The Philippine Tariff Commission is set to hear on Wednesday the applications of Toyota and Honda for the inclusion of certain automotive products under the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) Industrial Cooperation (AICO) scheme, said commission chairman Emmanuel Velasco.

The country's Association of Consolidated Automotive Parts Producers Inc. (ACAPP) "supports the AICO scheme where local suppliers have no capability to supply the local vehicle manufacturing industry," said its president George Lim.

But he argued that Toyota's and Honda's applications for preferential tariffs included auto parts that were already being manufactured by Philippine suppliers.

He also noted the presence of Thai parts suppliers in the applications of the two Japanese car makers.