Trump Trade War - Thai steel pipes secure US tariff exemption
May 09, 2018
The Bangkok Post reported that Thai steel pipes have been granted an exemption from the US’s 25% steel import tariff. Wanchai Varavithya, deputy director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Foreign Trade Department, said the US Department of Commerce recently granted Thai steel pipe exporters an exemption from the tariff, but only on a shipment basis. He said "Although the US Department of Commerce has yet to grant a waiver on import tariffs for all shipments from Thailand, exporters can ask for an exemption for each shipment. This is good news for Thailand.”
Mr Wanchai added "We’re hopeful that Washington will soon announce a permanent exemption of import tariffs on steel and aluminium from Thailand."
In a bid to curb the harm from the higher US tariffs, Thailand, through its Commerce Ministry, has since April requested a number of trade privileges aimed at helping Thai exporters compete in both the US and global markets, using the vehicle of the Thailand-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meeting in Washington DC. Thailand cited a number of reasons why it should be excluded from the tariffs, including the fact that it holds a very small steel and aluminium market share in the US. A study by the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand estimated that the country would lose 383,496 tonnes or 10.47 billion baht worth of steel exports (notably for steel pipe, cold-rolled steel and galvanised steel sheet) as a direct consequence of the US tariffs.
