Thailand has implemented bilateral trade agreements with various countries, including Australia, Chile, China, Laos, New Zealand, Japan, Peru and India. Describes the trade agreements in which this country is involved. Provides resources for U.S. companies to obtain information on the use of these agreements. Other Thailand free trade agreements that are still under discussion are as follows: Thailand wants India to speed up its decision on the draft full-fledged free trade agreement (FTA) with the country in order to increase trade and investment flows. In addition, Thailand is considering joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Thailand has formed a committee to examine the impact of such a trade pact. An archive photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Thai counterpart, General Prayut Chan-o-cha. The two leaders had agreed to speed up negotiations on a free trade agreement, but there hasn`t been much progress since then. From 2004, the Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and India covered trade in goods until 2010.
To accelerate tariff reductions, the two countries agreed to introduce an Early Harvest Program (EHS) for 82 goods, where tariffs have been reduced to 0 percent since September 2006 – completely abolished. Given the economic uncertainties in the West, Bangkok is seeking to strengthen its partnership with Asian countries through bilateral free trade agreements and regional pacts such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), said Somkid Jatusripitak, Thailand`s deputy prime minister. The Thailand-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will grant tax privileges to at least 900 other Thai items for goods classified as “Product Specific Rules” (PRS) and goods that comply with rules of origin, according to the director general of Thailand`s Trade Negotiations Department. “Asia has the power of a strong supply chain and technological advancement that has spread to many countries. The value chain in Asia must continuously grow and in turn be linked to the global value chain for global prosperity,” he said. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed at a meeting in June last year to speed up FTA negotiations, but no major progress has been made since then. Thailand is also a member of ASEAN, founded in 1967. ASEAN currently consists of 10 members, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN has implemented a number of free trade agreements with its trading partners, including ASEAN Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN China, ASEAN India, ASEAN Japan and ASEAN Korea. In addition, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”), a free trade agreement between 10 ASEAN countries and their six trading partners, Australia, China, India, Korea, Japan and New Zealand, was signed in November 2020. Bilateral negotiations were then halted as India had to prioritize its free trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“We also have no idea what the EU would look like when Britain`s exit process from the EU was complete,” the deputy prime minister added. Businesses in both countries have set a goal of increasing bilateral trade from $8.5 billion in 2015-16 to $16 billion by 2021. (The author`s trip to Bangkok was sponsored by the Thailand Board of Investment) Other benefits of the negotiations were the creative industries, construction, tourism and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Bilateral trade between countries was estimated at $4.1 billion in the first half of 2010, a 29% increase over the previous year. Of this total, Thailand`s exports to India amounted to $2.6 billion, while imports from India amounted to $1.5 billion. IT, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, automotive and tourism are some of the areas of collaboration identified. India is Thailand`s main trading partner in South Asia and Thailand`s gateway to other markets in the region such as Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the global market, India is Thailand`s 17th largest trading partner and number 11 as an export market. New Delhi wants to see what form the proposed RCEP — a pact between ASEAN (including Thailand), India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — takes before concluding a free trade agreement with Thailand, as RCEP would be less ambitious than both, a Commerce Ministry official said. Given the uncertain environment in the West, many Asian countries realize the importance of connecting with each other, as their combined market size is half the size of the world.
India is also somewhat cautious about the free trade agreement with Thailand, as the early harvest program with tariff reductions of 82 items concluded by both in 2006 had caused initial problems for items such as TV tubes and gold. “I think we will have to ask your cabinet when they want to accept a free trade agreement with Thailand. We want decision-making to be accelerated,” Jatusripitak said in reference to the draft free trade agreement with India during a media interaction. In fact, one of the first decisions U.S. President Donald Trump made after coming to power was to separate the country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an ambitious free trade pact the Obama regime had made with 11 Pacific Rim states, four of which came from the 10-member ASEAN bloc. Thailand and India resumed negotiations in December 2010 and agreed on the bilateral free trade agreement with better benefits for the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement, which is in line with Thailand`s goal of becoming India`s partner at the strategic level, e.B the increasing number of goods entering the market and the timing of the reduction and/or cancellation of taxes faster than that of the agreement. ASEAN-India free trade. Thai representatives, led by Director-General Srirat Rastapana, recently visited India to meet with their Indian counterparts at the 21st Thailand-India Trade Negotiation Committee in the capital New Delhi to negotiate free trade, services, investment and other economic cooperation between the two countries. The Trump administration in the United States is changing the direction of trade regulations that the country has built over the past three decades, he said. .