BANGKOK – The Thai Chamber of Commerce on March 6 urged action from the government over US trade policy uncertainty and proposed it creates a “war room” to head off any threat of tariffs by the Trump administration.
The chamber said its panic over US trade policy was justified, and Thailand must urgently review its import taxes on US goods and increase imports to reduce its trade surplus with Washington amid rising global trade disputes.
“Today, if asked if we are panicking about the US, we must be panicking because they are our No. 1 export market,” the chamber’s vice-chair Poj Aramwattananont told a press conference.
“Time is very short. If we don’t hurry up and don’t respond officially to what is happening, we will run into problems. We have to be prepared and respond in a way that is fair to all parties.”
US President Donald Trump in February signed a broad trade memorandum ordering federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of a range of trade issues by April 1, including analyses of persistent US trade deficits.
The United States was Thailand’s largest export market in 2024, accounting for 18.3 per cent of total shipments, or US$54.96 billion (S$73.19 billion).
Thailand had a trade surplus in 2024 of US$35.4 billion with the US, according to the Commerce Ministry, which has cited challenges to growing Thai exports due to uncertain US trade policies.
The chamber said it has asked the government to establish a special working group alongside the war room to address US trade policy issues.
It added that Thailand could import more energy and agricultural products as well as aircraft from the US to narrow the gap. REUTERS
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