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Thailand: Trump’s policies expected to boost Thai exports
United States President Donald Trump’s policies should boost Thai exports to the US in areas such as automobiles and parts, seafood, fruit, gems, ornaments and rubber, Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn said on Friday.
The US imports more automobiles and parts than it exports, the minister said. Prospects were bright for the Thai automotive industry.
She expected increased exports of canned and processed seafood and fruit, chilled and frozen prawns, rubber products, gems, jewellery and garments to the US.
These products were popular with the American middle-income consumers Mr Trump planned to support in terms of employment, income and economic status, Mrs Apiradee said.
The minister also said Mr Trump was likely to strictly enforce existing unilateral trade measures to protect US industries and reduce the trade deficit. This would probably target Mexico, Canada, Japan and China.
Chinese products made up 21% of US imports and the country posted a trade deficit of US$367.2 billion (12.95 trillion baht) in 2015, Mrs Apiradee said.
In 2016, Thai-US trade was worth 1.28 trillion baht, up 0.22% year-on-year. Thailand posted a trade surplus of 430.27 billion baht, she said.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1187968/trumps-policies-expected-to-boost-thai-exports