Thai shippers concerned government too slow to negotiate with Trump

The Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) on Monday expressed concerns that the government is too slow in formulating measures to address potential trade penalties from US President Donald Trump.

TNSC chairman Chaichan Charoensuk said he has yet to see any progress from the Thai government in responding to the so-called Trump 2.0 policies.
Trump has vowed to penalise countries with excessively high trade surpluses with the US by imposing punitive tariff rates on their exports.

Chaichan stated that the TNSC and other private organisations want the government to establish a joint public-private committee to handle trade measures imposed by the US. He emphasised that the private sector, including exporters, possesses detailed information essential for formulating strategies to negotiate with the US.

However, he noted that the government has ignored calls for private sector involvement in such strategic planning.

“As a result, the government’s preparations are progressing too slowly, and there is still no clear strategy for negotiations with the US,” Chaichan said.

He warned that the government’s slow response could seriously affect exports to the US and lead to a decline in export value, which stood at nearly 55 billion US dollars last year.

Chaichan also urged the government to carefully consider its plan to increase agricultural imports from the US, cautioning that such a move could negatively impact Thai farmers in the long run.

He pointed out that Thailand had a trade surplus of 35 billion US dollars with the US last year, making the strategy of increasing imports from the US potentially impractical.

Additionally, Chaichan called on the government to address Thailand’s trade deficit with China, noting that the country faced a deficit of 1.6 trillion baht last year due to an influx of cheap Chinese products flooding Thai markets.