Thailand-US Conclude Key Points of ART, Confident of Fair Tariffs
Geopolitics
Ms. Lalida Periswivatana, Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, revealed that Ms. Supajee Suthamphan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, who was assigned by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, has held discussions with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and has reached a mutual conclusion on the key points of the Thailand-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART). Only technical issues remain, which both sides will expedite to finalize soon. The discussions with Mr. Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, and Mr. Rick Switzer, the Deputy US Trade Representative, on September 1, 2026, in Washington, D.C., made concrete progress ahead of the US announcement of the results of the Section 301 investigation into structural overcapacity. The US side assured that Thailand would receive a tariff rate that is fair and competitive. The ART covers issues of addressing non-tariff trade barriers, digital trade, and commercial opportunities, with the goal of protecting Thailand's top export market, valued at over 2.37 trillion baht, and more than 400,000 jobs. Thailand was previously subject to reciprocal tariffs under IEEPA at a rate of 36%, which was later reduced to 19%, leading to the announcement of the ART framework on October 26, 2025. Subsequently, despite the US Supreme Court's ruling regarding tariffs under IEEPA in February 2026, the US used Section 122 to impose a 10% tariff on all countries instead. Meanwhile, the US opened two additional Section 301 investigations covering Thailand: one on structural overcapacity and another on the lack of measures to ban imports of goods produced with forced labor. In the latter case, the US set a tariff rate of 12.5% for countries without laws banning such imports, and 10% for countries with such laws or that have concluded an ART. The overcapacity case is still under consideration, with the US expressing its intention to expedite the tariff rate determination in tandem with ART progress. In 2025, the US was Thailand's second-largest trading partner, with total trade value exceeding 3 trillion baht. Thailand exported 2.37 trillion baht and imported 700 billion baht, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.68 trillion baht.
