Thailand, US writing ‘final paragraph’ of trade deal, says PM Anutin

SINGAPORE: Thailand is “at the last paragraph” of its Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the United States and could sign the deal on US President Donald Trump’s next visit to Asia, said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday (Oct 7).

Anutin received a letter from Trump last week confirming both countries were “at the final stage” on the agreement, he said at a dialogue with Forbes Media chairman and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes.

“(Trump) told me I was to make sure that my people and the US Trade Representative would write up the final clause, and he expected we could sign the agreement … in the letter, he said, ‘on my next visit to Asia’,” Anutin told attendees at the gala dinner of the Forbes Global CEO Conference at the Shangri-La Singapore hotel.

Trump is expected to visit Asia in November to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen.

Thai exports to the US are currently subject to a 12.5 per cent tariff related to forced-labour measures. A separate investigation into production overcapacity is pending. The US is Thailand’s largest export market.

This was up from a temporary 10 per cent tariff that had expired in July.

Thailand has a sizeable goods trade surplus with the US, which reached US$71.7 billion in 2025, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. That was up 59.1 per cent from 2024.

In services, however, the US recorded a US$15 million trade surplus with Thailand in 2025, reversing a US$5 million deficit in 2024.

However, Thailand has a substantial trade deficit with China. 

When asked by Forbes about this, Anutin said he was “sure that the level of deficit with China will greatly, greatly reduce with time” due to Chinese investments flowing into his country.

Thailand’s trade deficit with China has widened by 59.3 per cent in the first seven months of this year, amounting to US$55.13 billion, Thai news outlet The Nation reported in September.

Anutin said Thailand has had “numerous projects from China as direct investment” since the beginning of this year.  

He also met with automobile players during his visit to China in July, “where they confirmed their investments into our country”, said Anutin.

Making a case for investing in Thailand, Anutin said that after taking office in September 2025, he, together with Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, vowed to put Thailand on the “radar” to bring in more innovative businesses.

In discussions with foreign investors, he “begged” them not to see Thailand as a country of “cheap labour supply, cheap facilities, cheap utility charges”, but as a place with developed logistics and communications systems, and a distribution hub for ASEAN and beyond, he said.

He was able to meet foreign dignitaries through the ASEAN and APEC summits, and a ceasefire agreement signed with Cambodia last October in the presence of Trump and Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur meant “we are in the focus of (the) media”, he said.

Tensions with Cambodia over a disputed border area erupted into military clashes earlier last year. The flare-up claimed at least 43 lives and displaced more than 300,000 people from both sides of the border.

Thailand is seeking membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assure investors it is a “reliable place” to put their money in, he said. The OECD is an international organisation of mainly advanced economies that develops policy standards and advice on how countries can better run their economies, institutions and public services.

When asked by Forbes about Thailand’s role in taking in refugees from Myanmar and other parts of the region, Anutin said Thai people “have no problems in helping friends in need” and believe in “humanitarian prosperity”.