World’s Top Rice Buyer Philippines Halts Imports for 60 Days (1)

The Philippines will suspend rice imports for 60 days from Sept. 1 to support local farmers, a move that could further pressure global prices as the top buyer of the grain pulls back from the market.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued the order to protect farmers reeling from low paddy rice prices during the harvest currently underway, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez said in a statement on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. pushed for a temporary halt in imports of the national staple alongside an increase in rice import tariffs. He has said ...