By TV Channel 7 and Reuters – published by Yahoo!News
THE US has not yet responded to Thailand’s latest proposal on slashing the levy on tens of thousands of US goods to 0% in an attempt to avert a punitive 36% tariff on Thai exports, TV Channel 7 said this evening (July 21).
Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Commerce Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said Thailand’s proposal, tabled on July 17, may not be fully accepted unlike some other countries that have already reached an agreement. Among them are Vietnam which closed the deal with the US at 20% tariff and Indonesia 19%.
“All proposals have significant impact. If we give 0% tariff to some countries we may have to give it to other trading partners as well, which will have a significant impact on domestic entrepreneurs and may damage some businesses,” he said.
Pichai emphasized that proposals and agreements Thailand negotiates with the US should be based on the principle that both parties benefit.
Vulnerable groups, especially the agricultural sector, must be able to survive, he insisted.
EU to ramp up retaliation plans
Meanwhile the European Union is exploring a broader set of possible counter-measures against the United States as prospects for an acceptable trade agreement with Washington fade, Reuters quoted EU diplomats as saying today.
An increasing number of EU members, including Germany, are now considering using wide-ranging “anti-coercion” measures which would let the bloc target US services or curb access to public tenders in the absence of a deal, diplomats say.
The European Commission, which negotiates trade agreements on behalf of the 27-member bloc, had appeared on course for an agreement in which the EU would still have faced a 10% US tariff on most of its exports, with some concessions.
Such hopes now seem dashed after President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 30% tariff by August 1, and following talks between EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and US counterparts in Washington last week.
Sefcovic, who has said a 30% tariff would “practically prohibit” transatlantic trade, delivered a sober report on the current state of play to EU envoys on Friday, diplomats told Reuters.
US counterparts had come up with diverging solutions during his meetings, including a baseline rate that could be well above 10%, the EU diplomats added.
“Each interlocutor seemed to have different ideas. No one can tell (Sefcovic) what would actually fly with Trump,” one diplomat said.
Prospects of easing or removing 50% US tariffs on steel and aluminium and 25% on cars and car parts appear limited.
“Nuclear option”
Washington has also rejected the EU’s demand for a “standstill” arrangement, whereby no further tariffs would be imposed after a deal is struck. The rationale, according to diplomats, is that Trump’s hands cannot be tied on national security, the basis of Section 232 trade investigations into pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and timber.
Accordingly, the mood has pivoted among EU countries, EU diplomats say, and they are more ready to react, even though a negotiated solution is their preferred option.
The EU has one package of tariffs on 21 billion euros ($24.5 billion) of US goods that is currently suspended until August 6. The bloc must still decide on a further set of countermeasures on 72 billion euros of US exports.
Discussions have also increased on using the EU’s wide-ranging “anti-coercion” instrument (ACI) that allows the bloc to retaliate against third countries that put economic pressure on member states to change their policies.
Brought in more with China in mind, it would allow the bloc to hit trade in US services, in which the US has a trade surplus with the EU, limit US companies’ access to financial service markets and to public tenders in the EU. Public procurement in the EU is worth around 2 trillion euros per year.
Possible measures also include restricting US investment and limiting the protection of intellectual property rights and restrictions on the ability to sell US chemicals or food products in Europe.
France has consistently advocated using the ACI, but others have baulked at what some see as a nuclear option. Trump has warned he will retaliate if other countries take action against the United States.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a week ago that the ACI was created for extraordinary situations, adding: “We are not there yet.”
The Commission would need a qualified majority of 15 countries making up 65% of the EU population to invoke it. It would not do so unless it was confident of passing it, but there are now growing signs of support building, with Germany among the countries saying it should be considered, EU diplomats say.
($1 = 0.8590 euros)
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Top and Front Page: Representative image of Thai-US trade. Credit: Amarin TV
Insert: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the White House, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Washington. Photo: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta and published by CNA
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