PM hopes US will keep its pledge of special tariff treatment for Thailand

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul claimed today that the US mid-term elections will have no impact on Thailand and that he will remind President Trump of his pledge to consider special tariff treatment for Thailand at the ASEAN summit and APEC conference next week.

He said that the pledge was made after Thailand’s fulfilment of its commitment to the peace and troop withdrawal agreement with Cambodia.

He said that he has been updated by Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun on progress in trade negotiations with the US and learned that the negotiations have reached the stage of documentation scrutiny by both sides.

This would appear to indicate that the terms of Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) have been finalised in principle, but an agreement will still have to be formalised.

The prime minister admitted he is not sure whether he will meet President Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, but the Thai Foreign Ministry has been trying to arrange it.

He said that the US had sent a draft joint statement to the government after the end of the negotiations, adding however that the joint statement will have no impact because the tariff rate has returned to normal which is 19%.