Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said on Wednesday the renewed threat by US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Chinese goods would create "serious problem" if it happens.

In a press briefing in Malacanang, Dominguez said Philippine exports would surely be affected.

"You know, we're going to get affected by that because a lot of our exports to China are parts of, let's say telephones or computers which are assembled in China and then re-exported to the US," he said.

He said the government, in particular the Department of Trade and Industry, would be meeting with the export industry to find out how exactly it would be affected.

"It's a serious problem, okay? And we hope that the US and China will come to an agreement on this issue,'' said Dominguez.

Dominguez recalled that he met recently the former chairman of the Republican National Party who was also Trump's first chief of staff.

He said he was informed that US expected the trade issues to be settled with China.

"And I'm still hoping that that will come true," he said.

Last Sunday, Trump again vowed to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which worried global markets.

A report by Reuters said that Trump's action was prompted by China's systematic edits to a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement between the two countries.

Reuters, quoting sources, said the draft document was riddled with reversals by China that undermined core US demands. Celerina Monte/DMS