Thailand’s Government House. (Thailand Ministry of Commerce)
On September 7, Thailand and the US reached agreement on the key elements of a proposed Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), with technical teams working to finalise the remaining details.
The ministry said the discussions between Thai Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer in Washington resulted in substantive progress, with both sides agreeing to accelerate work on the remaining technical issues.
Thai DPM and Commerce Minister Suphajee said that negotiations had gone well and that the remaining work mainly concerned the wording and language of the agreement. She expected the details to be completed within about a week, after which they would be sent to the US trade delegation.
The ministry also stressed that the negotiations have not yet formally concluded and no final tariff rate has been agreed.
Thailand’s negotiations come after the US imposed a 12.5% tariff on Thai imports from July 24, replacing a previous 10% tariff under a temporary US measure. Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce said more than 2,120 Thai products, accounting for more than half of the value of exports to the US, were exempt from the additional tariff.
The US has also been conducting a Section 301 investigation involving Thailand on structural excess capacity and the absence of measures prohibiting imports produced with forced labour. The Ministry of Commerce said the outcome of the structural excess-capacity investigation remains pending and could affect future tariff conditions.
Following the Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered government agencies to accelerate the tariff negotiations, citing the importance of protecting Thai exporters, businesses, farmers and workers. The government also said the talks should be conducted with national interests as the priority.
The Commerce Ministry has described the US as Thailand’s largest export market, with exports worth more than 2.37 trillion baht (72.9 billion US dollars) and supporting more than 400,000 domestic jobs, underscoring the importance of securing competitive access to the market.
The negotiations have become both a tariff issue and a broader effort to manage Thailand’s trade relationship with the US. Thailand is seeking to preserve export competitiveness while addressing US concerns over trade imbalances, forced-labour rules and structural excess capacity.
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