Thailand plans to finalise an agreement on reciprocal trade with the United States by the end of this year, according to Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun.
The two countries concluded a joint agreement on reciprocal tariffs on July 31, and now the government aims to finalise remaining issues including market access for goods, services and investment, she said.
Negotiations are expected to proceed cautiously to avoid negative impacts on domestic industries and markets, the minister said on Tuesday.
In addition, the ministry’s Department of Foreign Trade is now the sole agency to issue certificates of origin for exports to the US, applying artificial intelligence (AI) to verify product origins and taking strict precautions against document forgery.
Verifying the origin of imported goods is a key concern of the US, which suspects Chinese businesses of transshipping many products through other countries, especially in Southeast Asia.
Washington has threatened tariffs of up to 40% on goods that fail to meet local-content requirements, compared to he 19% rate it now applies on Thai goods.
To support exports, Mrs Suphajee said the government also wants to finalise free trade agreements with the European Union and South Korea during the new administration’s brief term.
The ministry also plans to explore new markets in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Faster anti-dumping action
Discussing anti-dumping, anti-circumvention and safeguard measures, the minister said the ministry is streamlining the process by reducing the complaint-filing period from 4 months to 1 month, and using AI to analyse data, shortening the investigation period from 12 months to 9 months.
She said these steps protect trade interests and help Thai businesses counter dumping more effectively.
Regarding substandard imports and nominee businesses, Mrs Suphajee said the ministry had formed a joint committee with 16 agencies and collected 2.18 billion baht in value-added tax from small imports, deployed AI to monitor e-commerce and strictly cracked down on nominee businesses.
She said the ministry is supporting businesses in seven border provinces with Cambodia, offering measures such as low-cost Blue Flag fairs, expanded market channels through fairs in other provinces, online sales via Thailand Post and business matchmaking with logistics providers.
As well, the ministry is continuing with its consumer-protection campaign to require disclosure of medicine prices, allowing patients to purchase drugs outside hospitals, along with price controls for essential medicines and medical supplies.
To support rice farmers in the short term, the government offers credit for delayed sales to prevent a premature market glut, as well as credit support for agricultural cooperatives to collect and process rice, enhanced liquidity for rice traders to stockpile rice, direct financial aid of 1,000 baht per rai, capped at 10 rai per farm household, and other cost-reduction measures.
Mrs Suphajee said government is also expediting government-to-government rice sales, particularly with China, while also pursuing trade with Singapore, expanding rice exports to new markets such as Saudi Arabia, and promoting organic rice in Europe and jasmine rice in the US.