Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce hasannounced that it will adopt seven measures to soften the impact of the USsuspension of trade benefits for the Southeast Asian country.

Scheduled to take effect on April 25, 2020, the suspensionscover a total of 573 types of goods which will no longer receive duty-freetreatment and will face import tariffs of 4-5 percent worth 1.5-1.8 billionbaht (50-60 million USD) annually.

It is estimated that Thai exporters will see 39.2 billion baht (1.3 billion USD) of benefits under thegeneralised system of preferences (GSP) removed.

Somdet Susomboon, acting director-general of the Department of International Trade Promotion,said the department has prepared the seven measures to mitigate the impact ofthe US action.

The first priority is to increase exports to the US over thenext six months before the GSP cuts become effective, said Somdet.

During this period, US buyers are expected to stockpile theirsupplies of affected goods, particularly processed food, rubber products andelectrical appliances.

He said the US has also decided to restore trade benefits toseven Thai products including fresh-cut orchids and cocoa powder, so thedepartment will seek to expand the market share for these goods.

Another measure is to find new markets for the affectedproducts, he said, adding that India, Bahrain, Qatar, South Africa, Japan, theUK, the European Union, and Russia are among potential markets.

Due to the strong baht, Thai entrepreneurs in the agriculturalindustry and the processed food sector will be encouraged to invest intechnologies to increase their competitiveness or invest in countries withwhich the US has free trade agreements, to gain access to the US market.

The other measures include beefing up trade roadshows and exportpromotion activities; promoting the use of national e-commerce platformThaitrade.com and seeking partnerships with e-commerce firms to boost exports;and strengthening Thai brands by maintaining product quality and standards.

According to the Office of the US TradeRepresentative, bilateral trade under the GSP reached 4.4 billion USD in2018./.