US trade move seen having limited effect on Thai exports

[Fex Bluse]

2 hours ago, saengd said:

So the US AFL-CIO is at the heart of this, they file a petition (accepted) stating that Thailand does not afford its workers internationally recognised rights of collecting bargaining. It's beyond outrageous that is any concern of a trade agreement between two countries.

It is anti competitive. 

 

You and I both have companies selling the same product. 

 

You manufacture yours, and sell it for a price of #. 

 

I steal mine, and sell it for #*50% of what you sell it for. 

 

This is an unfair advantage I have 

[AhFarangJa]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

US trade move seen having limited effect on Thai exports

Welllllll.......They would say that, wouldn't they. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good spin..............

[saengd]

32 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

It is anti competitive. 

 

You and I both have companies selling the same product. 

 

You manufacture yours, and sell it for a price of #. 

 

I steal mine, and sell it for #*50% of what you sell it for. 

 

This is an unfair advantage I have 

If the products were all stolen I could agree with you, but stealing seafood and vegetables is tricky!

 

The US is heavily influenced by the AFL-CIO, that's why their labour costs are so high and that's why so many of their companies manufacture offshore. It was the unions that broke the car industry in Detroit and they'd like nothing more than to see those same unions (or clones of) get a foothold in Asia, that should destroy Asian economies nicely and eliminate any cost advantage, would that make you happy!

[CNXexpat]

Thailand can export duty free many goods to the US. Which goods can be exported to Thailand tax free? Cars? Wine? Oh no, at everything are high tariffs. So don´t complain Thailand!

[zydeco]

3 hours ago, saengd said:

It's beyond outrageous that is any concern of a trade agreement between two countries.

There is no trade agreement. The US is merely removing a freebie it had given to Thailand.

[trainman34014]

8 hours ago, Creasy said:

Thailand is invincible .

After a nuclear holocaust. Only Thailand and the cockroaches will survive.

 

There is an Iceberg waiting for Thaitanic not too far in the future !

[saengd]

8 minutes ago, zydeco said:

There is no trade agreement. The US is merely removing a freebie it had given to Thailand.

Perhaps so, but that freebie as you call it formed part of the broader trade agreement between them, written or merely just understood. To break that agreement on the basis of an AFL-CIO petition is, I think, galling. The timing also in respect of the paraquat issue is highly suspicious, it smacks of sour grapes.

 

 

[zydeco]

9 minutes ago, saengd said:

Perhaps so, but that freebie as you call it formed part of the broader trade agreement between them, written or merely just understood. To break that agreement on the basis of an AFL-CIO petition is, I think, galling. The timing also in respect of the paraquat issue is highly suspicious, it smacks of sour grapes.

 

 

Yea, it's galling to see one party suddenly change the terms under which it treats the other just on a whim, out of thin air. Sort of like the TM 30 and Health Insurance requirement.

[PETERTHEEATER]

8 hours ago, pegman said:

C.P. Group is the big shrimp exporter. They saw this coming and have moved on to high speed train operations. 

No sweat. The 7-11 railcars attached to each train will feature fresh shrimp on their retail shelves.

[saengd]

2 hours ago, zydeco said:

Yea, it's galling to see one party suddenly change the terms under which it treats the other just on a whim, out of thin air. Sort of like the TM 30 and Health Insurance requirement.

Sort of but not really at all, think about it!

 

The most developed and richest country in the world changes its trade policy with a small developing country at the whim of the federation of trade unions in the US. They want Thai workers to have the same rights as them, they're on a crusade bless 'em! 

 

BTW TM30 on the other hand was passed into law 24 years ago.

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, saengd said:

Sort of but not really at all, think about it!

 

The most developed and richest country in the world changes its trade policy with a small developing country at the whim of the federation of trade unions in the US. They want Thai workers to have the same rights as them, they're on a crusade bless 'em! 

 

BTW TM30 on the other hand was passed into law 24 years ago.

I'm a supporter of organized labor. I believe average people should have a degree of comfort, security, and safety. Just like the billionaire owners. And that goes double for Thailand, where wage disparities divide the country into extreme wealth and penury. Here is what I can promise the billionaires in any country: you had better give up some of what you have or you will end up losing everything you have.

[Naamblar2014]

8 hours ago, saengd said:

Goodness me, if that's what the US demands they should simply invade

US wouldn't stand a chance in a military confrontation with Thailand.  Thailand has submarines ????

[Steve Vincent]

Thailand already on the watch list for manipulating there currency by selling baht and purchasing the American dollar. Another way of cheating the system for export taxes...... exports & tourism down banks manipulating there currency is as bad as inside trading and those responsible should be held accountable ! 

[saengd]

24 minutes ago, Steve Vincent said:

Thailand already on the watch list for manipulating there currency by selling baht and purchasing the American dollar. Another way of cheating the system for export taxes...... exports & tourism down banks manipulating there currency is as bad as inside trading and those responsible should be held accountable ! 

If you sell Baht and buy USD that weakens THB, only by buying Baht against USD does it strengthen.

[GAZZPA]

7 hours ago, saengd said:

All the rules governing employment of labour are at the discretion of individual countries, there's no place in that comparison for one country to demand a trading partner must pay workers certain rates of pay, give them certain rights, allow them paid holidays and health insurance or anything else. Goodness me, if that's what the US demands they should simply invade or annex them and implement their own version of the labour laws.

 

We've got some oranges for sale, they're ten baht each, if you want to buy them you can, if you don't you don't have to. But don't say you do and then start putting demands on how I treat my workers, what I pay them etc etc etc, what next, we must all sing star spangled banner every morning before work!

you have a very strange point of view. Can you not see that a buyer has a responsibility to "audit" where it purchases goods and absolutely should demand certain business practices. We all kick off when we find out that Wallmart has bought its t shirts from a sweatshop with underpaid workers. What is the difference? I think you should rethink your position on this....

[baboon]

5 hours ago, zydeco said:

I'm a supporter of organized labor. I believe average people should have a degree of comfort, security, and safety. Just like the billionaire owners. And that goes double for Thailand, where wage disparities divide the country into extreme wealth and penury. Here is what I can promise the billionaires in any country: you had better give up some of what you have or you will end up losing everything you have.

Alas, no. The masses have been successfully persuaded that their enrichment depends on their poverty. There is no alternative model such as the former USSR they can defect to. They have been trained to shun solidarity with other like-minded folk.

Where can this lead other than to misanthropy, hate, war and death?

No country will be immune, not even Thailand. God help us all.

[saengd]

4 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

you have a very strange point of view. Can you not see that a buyer has a responsibility to "audit" where it purchases goods and absolutely should demand certain business practices. We all kick off when we find out that Wallmart has bought its t shirts from a sweatshop with underpaid workers. What is the difference? I think you should rethink your position on this....

"We all kick off when we find out that...."

 

We? Perhaps you like to think you audit the background of everything you buy, I most certainly don't! Before buying that very fine shirt made in Bangladesh I must check out it history, its pedigree, ensure the workers who picked the cotton were paid minimum wage, enure...blah blah, it's a complete nonsense!

 

 

[timendres]

14 hours ago, saengd said:

The US is heavily influenced by the AFL-CIO, that's why their labour costs are so high and that's why so many of their companies manufacture offshore. It was the unions that broke the car industry in Detroit and they'd like nothing more than to see those same unions (or clones of) get a foothold in Asia, that should destroy Asian economies nicely and eliminate any cost advantage, would that make you happy!

Having working in the auto industry in the 1980s, I can assure you that the unions were only part of what broke the auto industry. Management was equally to blame. Both were bleeding the cash cow dry, and not paying attention to the competition that was coming to eat their lunch (Japan). Many other factors came into the mix as well, including government policies. Everyone believed the largesse would live on forever. When I left GM, I told my family (many of whom worked for GM) that the company would be bankrupt soon. It took 20 years to unfold, but that is exactly what happened.

[saengd]

2 hours ago, timendres said:

Having working in the auto industry in the 1980s, I can assure you that the unions were only part of what broke the auto industry. Management was equally to blame. Both were bleeding the cash cow dry, and not paying attention to the competition that was coming to eat their lunch (Japan). Many other factors came into the mix as well, including government policies. Everyone believed the largesse would live on forever. When I left GM, I told my family (many of whom worked for GM) that the company would be bankrupt soon. It took 20 years to unfold, but that is exactly what happened.

Agreed, I was in Detroit from 1972 through 1980 and witnessed what happened first hand. The Japanese car industry was a massive problem for Detroit but it would have been much less so if the likes of the UAW hadn't been driving up labour costs every year...it was a very sad story.

[Fex Bluse]

16 hours ago, saengd said:

Perhaps so, but that freebie as you call it formed part of the broader trade agreement between them, written or merely just understood. To break that agreement on the basis of an AFL-CIO petition is, I think, galling. The timing also in respect of the paraquat issue is highly suspicious, it smacks of sour grapes.

 

 

This spat is more likely far larger than the chemicals ban. 

The chemicals have a negligible impact on the US economy.

This issue is about broader trade, Thailand's trade deficit with the US and their increasing closeness to China.

It's not our fault many of us are so poorly informed as we are force-fed comically poor Thai media.

Here is a better article:

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=asia+times+trump's+trade+wrath+turns+on+thailand&s=g

[saengd]

17 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

This spat is more likely far larger than the chemicals ban. 

The chemicals have a negligible impact on the US economy.

This issue is about broader trade, Thailand's trade deficit with the US and their increasing closeness to China.

It's not our fault many of us are so poorly informed as we are force-fed comically poor Thai media.

Here is a better article:

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=asia+times+trump's+trade+wrath+turns+on+thailand&s=g

I like this explanation:

 

"Thailand’s GSP status, granted to the world’s poorest countries to trade their way out of poverty, was poised anyway to be lifted as a middle-income nation with a GDP per capita of $7,275 in 2018"

 

But this one is incomplete:

 

"Those criteria include a larger trade surplus with the US, a large current account surplus of over 3% of GDP, and evidence of one-sided and persistent currency intervention by buying dollars in offshore markets. The Bank of Thailand, the kingdom’s central bank, has consistently denied it manipulates the value of the local unit, the baht".

 

Buying dollars in offshore markets: presumably using THB, and since all THB trades go via BOT so what, the effect is still the same, Baht is sold and USD is purchased, that has the effect of lowering the value of THB. Thailand has an obligation to ASEAN to keep the Baht is line with ASEAN currencies, it also operates a managed float, under IMF rules so once again it is obliged to buy and sell currency to do those things.....I don't understand what the complaint is or where it comes from.

[FarFlungFalang]

On 10/28/2019 at 5:25 AM, Fex Bluse said:

So, they are puffing out their chest.

No different from the Chinese in this regard.

They simply must pretend to be strong no matter their real position.

I hope they fight back, so they can learn what real pain is.

Yes we should inflict as much pain as possible on the poorer Thais who are obviosly responsible for  what ever it is that ails you.

[Fex Bluse]

Just now, FarFlungFalang said:

Yes we should inflict as much pain as possible on the poorer Thais who are obviosly responssible for what ever it is that ails you.

Nothing ails me. My life is marvelous.

 

Yes, we should inflict as much pain as possible so that the society improves.

[FarFlungFalang]

10 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

Nothing ails me. My life is marvelous.

 

Yes, we should inflict as much pain as possible so that the society improves.

Your desire for an improved Thai society is admirable and if inflicting a lot of pain succeeds then it may well be worth it,but it will be the poor that will most likely suffer the most.

[Fex Bluse]

1 minute ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Your desire for an improved Thai society is admirable and if inflicting a lot of pain succeeds then it may well be worth it,but it will be the poor that will most likely suffer the most.

I understand, but I could not care less for the poor Thai people. 

 

It is not my fault they are poor. 

 

And I have never met a poor Thai person who didn't aspire to be just like the Thai elites. 

 

Let them all hurt, so the whole society improves. 

[FarFlungFalang]

12 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

I understand, but I could not care less for the poor Thai people. 

 

It is not my fault they are poor. 

 

And I have never met a poor Thai person who didn't aspire to be just like the Thai elites. 

 

Let them all hurt, so the whole society improves. 

Of course you care for the poor Thais as caring is a doing word and you are here and your money is spent here some of which helps poor Thais but you may not have any empathy for them and there is no law that says we must be empathetic to anyone.I do find a lot of people say they care but don't actually "do" the caring bit. 

[Fex Bluse]

9 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Of course you care for the poor Thais as caring is a doing word and you are here and your money is spent here some of which helps poor Thais but you may not have any empathy for them and there is no law that says we must be empathetic to anyone.I do find a lot of people say they care but don't actually "do" the caring bit. 

I place my detritus in a bin, but I don't "care" for it as such. 

 

It is simply something I must deal with, just as I must clean my genitals daily. 

 

No, but really, I do not care and nor do I have any empathy. I'm not even sure why I would or even how I could. 

 

I'm fascinated by farang who do care. It's beautiful. 

 

[FarFlungFalang]

3 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

I place my detritus in a bin, but I don't "care" for it as such. 

 

It is simply something I must deal with, just as I must clean my genitals daily. 

 

No, but really, I do not care and nor do I have any empathy. I'm not even sure why I would or even how I could. 

 

I'm fascinated by farang who do care. It's beautiful. 

 

I also think that your desire for a better society belies both your caring and empathy for the poorer Thais.

[Fex Bluse]

7 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

I also think that your desire for a better society belies both your caring and empathy for the poorer Thais.

I'm not sure about any of that. 

I do know that I care about myself and my family. 

I also like useful people. 

I also like humble people. 

[TKDfella]

I am not an economist, far from it but I would think that Thai exporters are more concerned about the effect of the strong Baht than this move by the USA. That's probably the 'hidden' truth behind the 'limited effect' mentioned.