Thaksin Signals Thai Policy Reset to Cut Deal With US on Tariffs

Thailand needs to revamp its import regulations and investment promotion policies — key drivers for Chinese capital flows into the Southeast Asian nation in recent years — as a hefty US tariff threatens to hurt the nation’s export-driven growth, according to former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

The threat of a 36% levy on shipments to the US should serve as a “good wake up call” for the government headed by his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra to crack down on foreign manufacturers circumventing local content requirements, Thaksin told a seminar organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok on Thursday. He cited the country’s electric vehicle industry, which has drawn billions of dollars of investments from several Chinese automakers in recent years due to government incentives.