By GREG RUSHFORD
June, 11, 2012

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III visited Washington last week with two objectives. One, reaffirming bilateral security ties, was a success. But on Mr. Aquino's other goal—dropping U.S. tariffs on his country's clothing exports—the Obama administration sent the president home empty-handed.

The Philippine leader urged Barack Obama to support a bill introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives to boost Philippine clothing exports to the U.S., which amounted to $1.7 billion last year. The SAVE Act—for Save Our Industries—would give Philippine garment manufacturers duty-free access to U.S. clothing markets as long as they buy U.S. fabrics to make their jeans, shirts and dresses.

Instead, Mr. Aquino got the brush off. All Mr. Obama offered regarding economic issues was a vague statement that he was working "on how we can make sure that we are structuring a relationship of expanding trade and commerce."

As disappointing as this is to some Filipinos, the outcome is actually good news for free trade. Both sides want trade distortions, so the lack of agreement could end up putting pressure on them to make concessions in multilateral forums. Ultimately the U.S. needs a complete overhaul of its high clothing tariffs, which generally range from 18% to twice that.

The SAVE act is flawed because it would use tariff preferences to divert trade flows to the benefit of a few firms doing business in the Philippines, mainly two well-known names in the world of fashion: Ann Taylor and Ralph Lauren. The tariff breaks for the Philippines would come at the expense of more efficient producers in Asia.

Of course, the Philippines' beleaguered garment industry doesn't see it that way. A decade ago, it employed roughly 700,000; now it's down to 150,000. The industry's former success relied on guaranteed access to American markets because of assigned quotas Washington doled out to more than 40 countries pursuant to the Multifibre Arrangement. But when these quotas were eliminated in 2005, Filipinos could no longer compete with lower-wage Asian neighbors.

It's clear this Philippine industry is globally uncompetitive and has thus suffered after the trade quotas were withdrawn, but its advocates don't want to admit that. For one thing, today's remaining workers rely on high-end fashion makers like Ralph Lauren and Ann Taylor, who sell to price-insensitive markets. Thanks to the Philippines' comparatively high-cost labor markets, the rag trade has found more economical opportunities elsewhere in Asia.

That's why Philippine boosters are resorting to historical and emotional appeals to get back on America's trade dole. Many ask why the U.S. hasn't eliminated tariffs for Manila, while doing so for some African clothing exporters like Mauritius, which has an economy five times that of the Philippines.

"It's kind of perverse" to exclude the Philippines, a former U.S. colony, argues Ron Sorini, a former U.S. textile negotiator who is lobbying for the Philippines. And Chris Panlilio, the Philippine undersecretary of trade who came to Washington with Mr. Aquino, says it is unfair "given our historical relationship with America" for the Philippines not to enjoy preferential trade.

The SAVE proposal might help the Philippines, but it would only be robbing Peter to pay Paul, shifting the relative tariff burden between countries instead of promoting freer trade. For years, diplomats from lower-cost Asian clothing exporters like Bangladesh and Cambodia have been asking American presidents of both political parties to give them tariff breaks on their clothing exports—requests that have consistently been rejected.

The big problem for all textile traders around the world is that the leader of the biggest economy is running a zero-sum game, where the winner has to lobby his way out. There is a simple way Mr. Obama can help all these countries, and at the same time avoid distortions: He can cut these tariffs across the board.

But not only is this not on the agenda, the Obama Administration is these days pushing to create more two-way trade preferences. During the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, Mr. Obama has been fighting tooth and nail to make Vietnam buy American fabrics in return for tariff reductions. The Vietnamese, sensibly, have pointed out the economic absurdities of this policy. Undeterred, the Obama White House vows to keep up the pressure until Vietnamese negotiators give in. The hypocrisy is too hard to ignore: Washington wants from Hanoi what it won't give to Manila.

President Obama, who once promised to change how America treats other countries, shows no signs of shame at pitting poorer nations against each other in the scramble to get around high U.S. clothing tariffs. Nor does he appear to see the intellectual inconsistencies between his various trade positions. Dropping tariffs across the board would end the political merry-go-round and allow healthy competition based on efficiency and quality.