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.