 "US says trade deals agreed with Cambodia, Thailand whose officials have no information about")
Even as the Donald Trump administration has announced US trade deals with Thailand and Cambodia, officials in the two countries have said that they were not aware of any such agreements.
Trump has sought to leverage the trading partnerships with the two countries to press them to end the war that began last week. He said that he would end trade talks with them if they would not agree to a ceasefire.
Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, on Wednesday said that the United States had reached a trade deal with the two countries. But there was no immediate confirmation from these countries.
This is at least the second instance where Trump’s senior officials have sown confusion about the country’s trade deals. Previously, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said that he was not sure if the US-Vietnam trade deal had actually been signed.
Has US signed trade deals with Thailand & Cambodia?
In an interview with Fox News, Lutnick on Thursday said, “And you know what we did today? We made trade deals with Cambodia and Thailand.”
A senior Cambodian official involved in trade negotiations told The New York Times that he had not been informed of a deal yet.
On the part of Thailand, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Thursday that the country expects to hear on the finality of the deal within 24 hours and nothing was final yet.
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View AllChunhavajira said that Thailand was still working “a little bit more” on trade details, according to Reuters.
Wheb asked whether the Trump administration had reached an agreement with Thailand, Chunhavajira said, “Don’t make me say anything just yet. There’s just a little bit more that I need to get back [to the US].”
Without a trade deal, Thailand and Cambodia each face tariff of 36 per cent. As the United States is a major export destination for both the countries, they are eager to reach a middle ground with the Trump administration and avoid the worst-case scenario of being slapped 36 per cent tariff. Neighbouring Indonesia and Philippines have secured tariff rates of 19 per cent and Vietnam has secured a rate of 20 per cent in deals with the Trump administration.
Without a trade deal or an extension, Trump has said that his tariffs will kick in from Friday (August 1).
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