Nation put off taking Vietnam's approach

Expert says Thailand in different position

- WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI

Thailand cannot offer the same kind of trade proposals to the United States as Vietnam did, warns Somjai Phagaphasvivat, an expert in international economics, who added that Vietnam was able to remove tariffs on all US imports because it has free trade agreements (FTAs) with 27 countries, which have already reduced most of Vietnam's import tariffs to zero.

In contrast, Thailand is unlikely to do the same, because it has FTAs with fewer countries than Vietnam does, he said.

"Nevertheless, one thing we must consider is that, at some point, we may have to do what Vietnam did in the future. We will need to enhance our competitiveness, and when the time comes and we have more FTAs with other countries, we'll be able to open up fully," said Mr Somjai.

According to Mr Somjai, in the current negotiations with the US, the goal is to lower Thailand's import tariffs on US goods to 0% to as great a degree as possible.

However, in his view, the proposed tariff reductions will likely fall into three groups: goods taxed at the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rate, goods for which tariffs will be reduced below the MFN rate but not yet to 0%, and goods for which tariffs will be reduced to 0%.