Thailand to renegotiate U.S. GSP at ASEAN Summit

[webfact]

Thailand to renegotiate U.S. GSP at ASEAN Summit

 

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - Apart from resolutions to be made by ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN Summit in November, the Thai government will take the opportunity to hold talks with the U.S. regarding the decision to revoke the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment previously given to 573 Thai products.

 

The Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said today the revocation of GSP by the U.S. must be looked into to find the true cause, as Thailand will be making additional representations to persuade Washington to restore the benefits, as there have been cases of benefits restoration on seven items in the past. The decision to no longer grant GSP preferences also applies to some other ASEAN countries, thus the countries involved will seek to hold talks with the U.S. representatives at the ASEAN Summit.

 

He said however that Thailand will be looking to newer markets in the future, and asked the general public not to worry or connect this issue with others.

 

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has held a talk with Charge d’Affaires Michael Heath, the acting U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, during his courtesy call after taking the acting ambassador’s position, where the U.S. diplomat has confirmed the matter is still up for further discussion as both countries have long enjoyed good relations. He added that both sides will seek an opportunity during the ASEAN Summit to resolve the issue.

 

The University of the Thai Chambers of Commerce’s Director of Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF), Thanawat Polvichai said today the discontinuation of GSP won’t cause a significant drawback on the export figure, as Thai exporters are likely to make the necessary adjustments and find replacement markets, as many export items from Thailand have been re-positioned to compete with innovations rather than pricing, especially among exports to the U.S.

 

He said the export sector will not be gravely affected and that the overall economic growth this year should achieve 2.8 percent growth, provided that the Bank of Thailand can regulate the Thai currency to keep it within appropriate margins, close to global competitors.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2019-10-31

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[30la]

Surely your negotiation will be useless, your dear friend Trump has decided not to meet you and this for sure for a valid reason!
But like some individuals in your government have made public, Thailand will have no problem with this. therefore ... NO PANIC!
The only ones who, as always, will have to make somersaults, will be the workers and the poor!
Perhaps in your way of doing politics there is one or more mistakes!

[J Town]

Surely by now the PM MUST understand there is no logic or thought behind Trump's actions.

[Fex Bluse]

2 minutes ago, J Town said:

Surely by now the PM MUST understand there is no logic or thought behind Trump's actions.

Lots of logic 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand to renegotiate U.S. GSP at ASEAN Summit

USA does not want you to renegotiate the GSP... it wants you to change the habits of a century in regard to the abuse of slave labour in the fishing industry.

Prayut thinks he can talk his way out of everything then renege on the deal later!

[Scot123]

Ah Trump derangement syndrome is strong here. How dare he put his own country first, how dare he! OMG. and I'm not even American. Its time Thailand was brought to book. 300% tax/tariffs on imported goods the theft of 51% of businesses and not allowing foreigners to buy land. Go Sir Trump and I hope the UK & the EU follow your lead. All that foreign reserves that people like to crow about then we should stop giving them billions in aid. 

[ukrules]

The US will kick the ass of the Thais who think they can manage the situation.

 

It's time to pay up for the decades of over taxation on imported American goods.

 

I hope the UK does the same thing once it's able to make it's own bilateral trade deals.

 

You have to give something to get something, Trump is well known for talking about deal making, first he will make things uncomfortable (revoking GSP), then he will dangle it as bait to get something he wants.

 

It doesn't take any kind of genius to work out what the Americans want : more exports with lower punitive / protectionist import tariffs.

[Snow Leopard]

Be careful what you re-negotiate. I like the part "find new markets". I am sure that with the sky high Baht this will be really easy.

[Thian]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

USA does not want you to renegotiate the GSP... it wants you to change the habits of a century in regard to the abuse of slave labour in the fishing industry.

Prayut thinks he can talk his way out of everything then renege on the deal later!

To be honest i thought that the thai fishery was on close watch for many years but recently they taken of that black list. So how can this suddenly come back as a major issue? If slavery really is the issue here the USA should not buy thai seafood at all, and also Europe will jump on this train if it's true.

[Thian]

35 minutes ago, ukrules said:

It's time to pay up for the decades of over taxation on imported American goods.

 

So what's the deal exactly? Is it illegal that thailand put so much importtax on american products?

 

Today i went to Paragon to buy Sonos speakers (american brand)....they cost double the price of same speakers in Singapore....does singapore also have a GSP deal with the USA? 

[Knocker33]

2 hours ago, J Town said:

Surely by now the PM MUST understand there is no logic or thought behind Trump's actions.

Probably because Thailand taxes foriengn imports heavily. Even products from neighboring asean countries so why should they be treated any different. Oh I forgot Thais are special.  Thailand number one

[Thian]

I think i found the answer here: http://www.iuuwatch.eu/2019/10/thai-government-pledges-to-protect-fisheries-reforms/

 

For the past five years, EJF has worked closely with the Royal Thai Government to eradicate the illegal fishing and human rights abuse that has plagued its fishing industry. Over that time, Thailand has implemented substantial reforms. However, in recent months the National Fishing Association of Thailand has been lobbying the government to roll-back many of the measures. 

 

In 2018, Thailand became the first country in Asia to ratify the International Labour Organization’s convention, which promises protection to the victims of forced labor and sanctions for the perpetrators. This year, it ratified the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention C188, which sets basic standards of work in the fishing industry, again the first country in Asia to do so. This progress has been recognized by the E.U., and the country’s “yellow card” trade warning over illegal fishing was lifted earlier this year.

 

In recent months, however, concerns have been raised over lobbying by the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT). In a closed-door meeting, NFAT demanded that all restrictions on crew and catch transfers at sea be lifted. This would allow abusive vessel owners to swap enslaved migrants between vessels so that they almost never made landfall, with virtually no chance of escape or detection by the authorities. Numerous such cases were documented in Thai fisheries before the current reforms were implemented.

 

 

[macgver]

haha! Donald Trump, Mike Pence and upper executives are not coming. So talking to National Security Affairs will be pointless. 

[rkidlad]

Just found Beer Lao White in Tops. I think it was was about 65 baht. That’s double the price it costs in Laos. That’s ridiculous. But as my missus said, do you think people would be drinking Chang and Singha if they could get beer like this for a similar price? 
 

No competition is great for feckless monopolies, but it’s absolutely awful for the consumer. 

[kevin612]

The last sentence is killing me,  it sounds like currency manipulation.

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, Thian said:

To be honest i thought that the thai fishery was on close watch for many years but recently they taken of that black list. So how can this suddenly come back as a major issue? If slavery really is the issue here the USA should not buy thai seafood at all, and also Europe will jump on this train if it's true.

Thailand performed a quick "fix" to get off the blacklist, as soon as that happened the old habits crept back again.

[Thian]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Thailand performed a quick "fix" to get off the blacklist, as soon as that happened the old habits crept back again.

Well as you can read in that article i posted the EU is watching them closely....and won't hesitate to give them a ban....

 

The same thing happened with Thai aviation, let's see how long that takes..

[Darkside Gray]

Ain't going to happen, nobody from the states here to talk with!

[zydeco]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

The University of the Thai Chambers of Commerce’s Director of Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF), Thanawat Polvichai said today the discontinuation of GSP won’t cause a significant drawback on the export figure, as Thai exporters are likely to make the necessary adjustments and find replacement markets, as many export items from Thailand have been re-positioned to compete with innovations rather than pricing, especially among exports to the U.S.

Then why do they keep on squealing about this almost every day?

[overherebc]

14 hours ago, Thian said:

So what's the deal exactly? Is it illegal that thailand put so much importtax on american products?

 

Today i went to Paragon to buy Sonos speakers (american brand)....they cost double the price of same speakers in Singapore....does singapore also have a GSP deal with the USA? 

Not sure if it works here on the same principle as the UK car manufacturers used to price the cars.

Can't remember who admitted to it/said it but they were priced according to what the manufacturers thought was the maximum the public would be willing to pay, and look where that got the UK car industry.

[Thian]

35 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Not sure if it works here on the same principle as the UK car manufacturers used to price the cars.

Can't remember who admitted to it/said it but they were priced according to what the manufacturers thought was the maximum the public would be willing to pay, and look where that got the UK car industry.

I see, well my question was more like what does that GSP agreement exactly mean? And this time i mean the deal between Thailand and the USA. 

 

Does it mean that both sides have to import from eachother for about the same value in us$ ? And if so are both sides not allowed to put importtax on it?

 

Also i don't understand the trade agreement between Germany and Thailand...I would think that Germany has the same rules to follow as the rest of the EU but i might be wrong in that.

 

When i understand those agreements i can check if those countries stick to the agreements since i shop a lot in Thailand and Germany . Others here know more about UK prices i bet.

[overherebc]

22 minutes ago, Thian said:

I see, well my question was more like what does that GSP agreement exactly mean? And this time i mean the deal between Thailand and the USA. 

 

Does it mean that both sides have to import from eachother for about the same value in us$ ? And if so are both sides not allowed to put importtax on it?

 

Also i don't understand the trade agreement between Germany and Thailand...I would think that Germany has the same rules to follow as the rest of the EU but i might be wrong in that.

 

When i understand those agreements i can check if those countries stick to the agreements since i shop a lot in Thailand and Germany . Others here know more about UK prices i bet.

Yep. It seems a simple ststement doesn't it

 FTA.  In laymans terms it gives the impression of, you import our stuff and we'll import yours and neither party will add tax to those imports/exports.

Quite sure it doesn't work on those simple terms though once the gov' bean counters throw in the rules and reg's they feel should apply. As you and I know some countries apply massive taxes under the luxury goods banner not because they are luxury goods but simply as a way to try and portect sales of their own similar low quality goods and consumables.

No names, no pack drill. ????