Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said today that the government has prepared measures, including negotiations and import tax restructuring, to deal with the Trump administration’s imposition of 36% reciprocal tariffs on Thai exports to the US market.
On Wednesday, the US president announced sweeping the imposition of 10% reciprocal tariffs on imports from around the world and harsh additional levies on key trading partners, including a 36% reciprocal tariff on goods imported from Thailand.
Paetongtarn said that both the Finance and Commerce ministries are working out the measures which are aimed at cushioning the impacts of the tariffs on Thai exporters to the US market.
While admitting that 36% is rather high, she believes that the US trade war will have a limited impact on Thailand’s economic growth, adding that the actual tax increase on Thai exports averages only 9%.
Regarding the Thai negotiating teams, the prime minister said that they are the responsibility of the commerce permanent secretary, adding that there may be various levels of talks requiring the establishment of several negotiating teams.
She pointed out that it is still unclear on what specific Thai exports to the US are to be subject to the 36% reciprocal tariff, adding that, once there is a clearer picture, the Thai negotiators will be able to bargain with their US counterparts and adjust tax structures to be more reasonable, based on the “more for less, less for more” concept.
The prime minister also emphasised the importance of meeting the current GDP growth projection, to ensure that is not reduced because of the US reciprocal tariffs.
For clarity, “tariffs” are just taxes on imports, whereas “reciprocal tariffs” are tariffs that both countries impose on each other.
