Trump to resume Thailand, Cambodia trade talks after truce
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Thailand’s trade talks with the US have included offering expanded access for American goods to narrow a US$46 billion trade surplus.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BANGKOK - President Donald Trump said the US will resume trade negotiations with Thailand and Cambodia after they agreed to halt clashes along their disputed border,
The two South-east Asian nations reached a ceasefire on July 29 after five days of fighting, including airstrikes and artillery shelling, left at least three dozen dead and displaced more than 150,000 on both sides
“I have instructed my Trade Team to restart negotiations on Trade,” Mr Trump said in a social media post on July 28. “I am proud to be the President of PEACE!”
Both countries face 36 per cent US tariffs. Neighboring Vietnam secured a 20 per cent rate, while levies for Indonesia and the Philippines were set at 19 per cent ahead of Mr Trump’s Aug 1 deadline.
Thailand’s Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on July 28 night that Mr Trump told him in a phone call after the peace talks that “we will get something very good out of it. He will do his best to give us as much as he can”.
The Thai baht was slightly weaker at 32.49 per dollar in early Asian trading on July 29 amid broad greenback strength. The country’s stock market is set to reopen on July 29 morning after being closed on July 28 for a holiday.
Mr Trump’s remarks are the latest example of how the US leader has wielded trade as a way to resolve for geopolitical clashes, claiming credit for pressuring trading partners to end conflicts if they wish to retain continued access to US markets.
The US in June brokered a deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda aimed at ending years of conflict. And Mr Trump has similarly claimed credit for halting a clash between nuclear powers India and Pakistan earlier this year.
Mr Phumtham and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet reached their agreement in Malaysia on July 28 in talks hosted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, acting in his role as the chair of Asean.
Envoys from China and the US were also at the negotiations, and a joint statement from the three South-east Asian nations after the talks said the meeting had been “co-organised by the United States of America with the active participation of the People’s Republic of China”.
In their remarks after the meeting, both Mr Phumtham and Mr Hun Manet thanked Mr Anwar and Mr Trump, as well as China, for helping reach the ceasefire.
“The fact that the US and China are both in on it is good.,” said Mr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University. “Thailand needs the tariffs to come down from the US side. And Trump will see this as a win.”
After its conflict with India was paused earlier this year, Pakistan hailed Mr Trump’s intervention while New Delhi disputed his claims that securing trade deals helped clinch their ceasefire. Both countries are still engaged in trade talks.
In the DRC, Mr Trump has said the US stands to get mineral rights from the country after brokering their deal. Congo is the second-biggest copper producer and largest source of cobalt, giving it prominence in Washington’s efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains for minerals needed for a wide-range of cutting-edge technologies. BLOOMBERG
