January 21, 2025
BANGKOK – The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) recommended on Monday that Thailand collaborate with other ASEAN nations to negotiate trade agreements with the United States to avoid high import tariffs and penalties.
NESDC secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan said Thailand alone would not have enough bargaining power to effectively negotiate lower tariffs with the new US administration under Donald Trump.
He said that the Trump administration is likely to increase import tariffs against nations that enjoy trade surplus before initiating trade talks with them.
Danuach added that Thailand’s chances of success would improve greatly if it joined forces with other ASEAN stations for trade talks with the US.
He said detailed negotiations would be necessary, but the first step should be for ASEAN nations to unite and agree to collective talks, leveraging their combined bargaining power.
As for concerns that Thailand might face penalties if the US suspects Chinese companies are relocating their production bases to Thailand to evade tariffs, Danucha proposed that the Board of Investment (BOI) encourage Chinese firms in targeted industries to establish partnerships in Thailand.
Currently, many Chinese companies register as new entities in Singapore, which then invest in Thailand, Danucha said.
He added that the US would be able to detect such practices and realise that these Chinese companies are trying to avoid the high import tariffs imposed on China, and Thailand may very well face high penalty tariffs in these industries as well.
To counter this, he said, Chinese companies should set up partnerships with Thais when establishing operations in Thailand. Such partnerships would demonstrate genuine investment intentions rather than moves to avoid high tariffs.
Danucha added that the BOI also should consider offering Chinese companies investment privileges if they have Thai partners.