Ford Motor Co. may scale down its planned operations in the Philippines if the U.S. automaker does not receive duty-free import privileges.
In a statement Friday, president Terry Emrick of Ford Motor Co. Philippines said the company has not yet made any changes to its proposed investments.But he warned if the capital equipment that it proposes to import continues to be subjected to tariff, changes could be made in the scope of the investment. "But nothing definite has been concluded at this stage," he said.
Manila newspapers said the company plans to bring in $50 million of capital equipment as part of its $333 million investment in the Philippines over 10 years.
They quoted Curtis Magleby, Ford's regional director, as saying the company is paying as much as 20 percent in tariffs for capital goods in the Philippines that are duty-free in other countries.
As an investor brought in by the Philippine Export Processing Zone Authority, Ford was given a six-year holiday on all income taxes early this year.
Other foreign car companies in the Philippines have protested Ford's favorable tax treatment.
Ford's car assembly plant in Laguna province south of Manila, to be operational by September 1999, will assemble cars, pick up trucks and vans for the Philippine market. It also will produce car parts for export.