THAI TIES:

Thailand, US inch ahead on trade accord (Tony Allison, 1/14/06, Asia Times)

The sixth round of talks between Thailand and the US to hammer out a free-trade agreement (FTA) that was to conclude on Friday was just another step in an arduous process, although the two sides are at the critical stage of clarifying many important specifics.

Despite vociferous protests on Tuesday that briefly interrupted the five-day talks in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in an address to local and foreign business leaders, said, "On the Thai-US FTA, if we don't trade with the US, we will lose. Right now, our greatest surplus with any country is with the US. We will be at a huge disadvantage to others if we lose our access to the US market, as other countries will pursue their own deals. We need to move now, before we have no more room to move."

If negotiations for an FTA are successful, the current US-Thai bilateral trade total of more than US$24 billion could rise considerably.

Steel tarrifs?

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 13, 2006 8:38 AM