By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Senior ReporterTHE PHILIPPINES’ merchandise exports are expected to weather the United States’ 12.5% tariff as exemptions for key products, particularly electronics and agricultural goods, help cushion the impact, analysts said. The US slapped the new 12.5% tariff on Philippine-made goods, which replaced the 10% baseline tariff on Philippine exports, which expired also on July 24. “With the removal of the 10% global tariff and its replacement by the 12.5% Section 301 tariff, the effective increase in the tariff burden on Philippine exports is only 2.5 percentage points,” Mr. Manzano noted. “The 12.5% tariff is a headwind, not a knockout blow. Francisco Cid L. Terosa, a former dean at the University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics, said while the 12.5% tariff spared the Philippines’ major exports, the affected sectors risk losing their competitiveness.