After not meeting targets for three years, the Philippines has reinstated its top 3 sugar quota recipient status by the United States.
According to the Business Mirror on September 17, 2025, the PH will start its sugar export year on October 1 with new quota.
The 2025-26 batch is at 145,235 metric tonne raw value (MTRV), behind Brazil’s 155,993 MTRV and the Dominican Republic’s 189,343 MTRV.
The quota is accessible at low taxation under the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system.
Although beneficiary countries can surpass the above volumes, all extra quantities attract normal duty rates.
Manila got back in the good books of Washington after April 2025 when it expeditiously shipped 66,000 tonnes of raw sugar there.
Beforehand in September 2024, it had delayed its quota-based shipments, thereby earning a 10% penalty.
Consecutive years of shortages within the PH had caused negligible dispatches to the U.S. between 2022 and 2024.
The April 2025 dispatch was a result of an occasional upward production curve that had pressured local sugar prices.
Regarding which, the preference for the U.S.’ market is because it commands premium rates most of the time.
April 2025 was exceptional since the American import rate then was 1,000 pesos ($17.25) below local rates amid low global quotations.
The United States normally commands between $538 a tonne (2020) and $1,988/tonne (2023) in sugar import rates from the PH.
So, after missing back-to-back targets, the Philippines looks forward to hitting its U.S.’ sugar quota in 2026. The stats below illuminate this quantity target further through shipping volume and comparative price data.
U.S.-Philippines Sugar Quota Statistics
In a good year, the Philippines exports over 90% of its sugar to the United States. For instance in 2021, the country shipped 118,501 tonnes of raw sugar stateside out of a worldwide total of 122,473 tonnes. Most of this quantity falls under a low taxation quota. Although the PH sometimes dispatches negligible quantities to the U.S. (2024), it usually boasts a high quota. The 2026 quota totals 145,235 metric tonne raw value (MTRV), third only to that of Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
How do the PH sugar export prices to the U.S. compare to other partners?
The U.S. commands premium prices for the PH’s sugar exports in certain years, per the below data interpreted from the ITC.
| Destination | PH’s Export price [$/tonne] | Export Quantity [tonnes] |
| World (Average) | 745 (2024), 1,988 (2023), 1,698 (2022) | 122,473 (2021) |
| United States | 629 (2024), 12,583 (2023), 2,333 (2022) | 118,501 (2021) |
| France | 2,395 (2024), 2,222(2023), 2,155 (2022) | 794 |
| South Korea | 1,799 (2024), 1,690 (2023), 1,737 (2022) | 682 |
Are export sugar prices by the Philippines higher than for home wholesale?
Seasonal data by the PH’s Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reveals lesser export prices than domestic wholesale. For instance in April 2025, the export rate to the U.S. was 1,000 pesos ($17.25) below the domestic one. In the 2020-21 fiscal year, millers’ export rates averaged 1,239.10 pesos ($23.35) per 50 kg while millsite rates averaged 1,569.40 peso ($27.57)/50 kg.