Bangkok: “Athakorn” reveals that measures to reduce the impact on the agricultural sector from the Trump tax are being considered urgently. The Minister of Agriculture revealed that he has instructed his subordinate agencies to consider measures to reduce the impact on the agricultural sector from the 36% tariff imposed by the United States on imported goods from Thailand. He emphasized that as the person overseeing the Ministry of Agriculture, he must protect the interests of farmers. Initially, he will assess the risks of agricultural products in order to set appropriate assistance measures, especially for groups that rely primarily on the US market.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Atthakorn Sirilatayakorn, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that the United States has imposed a tariff rate of 36% on Thai imports, which has created a challenging situation that all sectors of Thailand must adapt to, including the agricultural sector. He has discussed with agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture to consider ways to deal with the various counter-tariff measures in various scenarios, adhering to the principle of protecting farmers’ interests to minimize impacts.
In this regard, it was confirmed that farmers would not be left to face the impact alone. Initially, all units in the ministry were ordered to urgently assess the risks of each group of agricultural products in order to set appropriate assistance measures, especially for groups that mainly rely on the US market.
He also emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture is ready to support the work of the Thai international trade negotiation team and will cooperate with other relevant agencies, both government and private, to handle this challenging situation, with the hope that the negotiations of the Thai team will be successful.
For the initial measures of the Ministry of Agriculture, they include finding new markets for agricultural products that may be affected, including considering domestic measures such as increasing marketing channels, promoting processing, and providing knowledge on export standards to strengthen farmers in the long term.