Thailand
Thailand: Use of FTAs, GSP up 5% in first 4 months
The use of free trade agreement (FTA) privileges and the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) by Thai exporters amounted to US$24.27 billion in the first four months of 2019, up 5% from the same period last year.
According to a Foreign Trade Department report, FTA privilege use accounted for $22.54 billion, up 3.9% year-on-year from 2018, with shipments under the GSP totalling $1.72 billion, an increase of 22.2%.
Although FTA privileges and GSP were used more during January-April, overall country exports for the period fell by 1.9% from the same period in 2018.
Adul Chotinisakorn, director-general of the department, said the highest volume of FTA use still stemmed from Thai-Asean FTAs, totalling $8.27 billion during the first four month.
The Thai-China FTA was used for $6.22 billion, while Thai-Australia privileges stood at $2.66 billion.
The values for Thai-Japan and Thai-India totalled $2.57 billion and $1.53 billion respectively.
In growth terms, the Thai-Peru FTA saw the highest increase in use of 35.4%, followed by China at 16.1% and India at 8.8%.
Mr Adul said the top five items that saw the use of FTA privileges were trucks; natural rubber mixing with synthetic rubber products; fresh durians; sugar from sugar cane; and fruits such as guava, mango, and fresh and dried mangosteen.
Thailand has 13 FTAs in place, including the Asean-Hong Kong FTA and an investment agreement that has been effective since June 11.
For the use of GSP benefits from four countries — the US, Switzerland, Russia and Norway — the value of preference utilisation amounted to $1.72 billion during January to April, up 22.2%.
The US retained the highest rate, making up as much as 92% of overall GSP utilisation value. The GSP utilisation with the US amounted to $1.59 billion in the first four months, up 17.2% from the same period last year.
Items to the US that recorded the most privilege use were air-conditioner parts, rubber gloves, processed food, motorcycles and optical glass.
Japan removed its preferential tariffs on Thai products on March 31.
Mr Adul said the US cut GSP to India on June 5. Thai exporters may have an opportunity to grab the substitute market for US shipments, especially of products made from stone, handbags, leathers, basketwork, and polymer and polypropylene sheets.
“But Thailand needs to closely monitor the impact of the strong baht, the US-China trade war and the bearish global economy, as all these factors could bear on the use of FTA privileges and GSP,” he said.
For this year, the department has set a target for the use of FTA privileges and GSP to rise by 9% to a combined value of $81.02 billion, up from $74 billion last year.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1701872/use-of-ftas-gsp-up-5-in-first-4-months