MANILA — The Philippines’ rice imports will not reach 4.7 million metric tons despite a lowering of tariffs, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said on Tuesday.
The United States Department of Agriculture, in a July report, forecast the Philippines, one of the world’s largest rice buyers, would import 4.7 million tons of the commodity this year.
—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty