Toyota: Consider FTA before imposing safeguards

IMPOSING safeguard measures on imported automobiles is going against the regional bloc’s free trade agreement (FTA), the local distributor of Toyota vehicles said, noting that the Philippines should consider this before implementing additional tariffs.

“The safeguard is very much contrary to the spirit of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economic zone which promotes the free movement of goods,” GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings Inc. Chairman Vicente Jose Socco told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing in Taguig last week.