Finance Minister leads Thai team to discuss US taxes, expects broad conclusion before August 1, 68
Finance Minister discusses with advisors of Ban Phitsanulok, Team Thailand and relevant agencies to review the negotiation proposal for “US tax” – ways to cope with the impact, expecting to reach a broad conclusion before August 1, 68, setting a goal to not be at a disadvantage to competitors.
On July 11, 2568, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pichai Choonhavachir, revealed after a meeting with the Thailand team at Ban Phitsanulok regarding US tariff measures that he had invited advisors from Ban Phitsanulok and relevant agencies, including the Minister of Industry, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Minister of Commerce, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance, to discuss the US letter imposing a 36% tariff on Thailand. However, he emphasized that the letter was a postponement for Thailand, and that Thailand had not yet reached a conclusion through negotiations. Therefore, today's meeting was to review various measures before the August 1, 2568 deadline.
“I invited the advisory team from Phitsanulok House because I think they are knowledgeable about these things and should be able to provide good opinions and share their ideas. So I invited them to the meeting today to review various matters before August 1, 2568, so that we can reach a conclusion with the United States to some extent. I believe that this will be a conclusion on a broad level. After that, there will still be a long negotiation.”
Mr. Pichai revealed that today's meeting discussed the conclusions of negotiations with the United States, which are:
- Imports from the United States must not harm domestic producers in both the agricultural and small industrial sectors.
- Effective regulation of imports from the United States
- Increase the speed and efficiency of both inbound and outbound freight transport.
“The most important thing is the impact mitigation measures. We have broad principles now, both in the agricultural and industrial sectors. We have to do our homework on the details.”
The Thai team has prepared several negotiation strategies with the US, not just the tax issue. We will provide clear explanations to the US and hope that what we will get back will not be something that Thailand will be at a disadvantage to our competitors.
“We sent the proposal on July 6th. Today we will review it again. We will look at the details of each product and to confirm that we are on the right track. As for what will be added or not, we are now looking for an opportunity to talk with the US practitioners online to understand. If you ask if there will be an extension, there may be a little bit that we will adjust. If necessary, I am ready to travel. We have set a goal that we will not be at a disadvantage to our competitors.”
Mr. Pichai revealed that today's meeting is a follow-up meeting after the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of Thailand and the Federation of Thai Industries and large companies were called to discuss the impacts and supportive measures on July 9, 2568.
“On July 9, I received a lot of information and submitted my homework. I expect to return no later than July 14 to see what the impacts are on each sector. We still need to find a way for the public and private sectors to run smoothly. That’s the origin of today’s meeting. Today, we discussed how to solve the problem if there are such impacts.”
Reporters said that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra traveled to his residence in Phitsanulok this morning.
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