Trump’s global trade war: What will it mean for Thailand and the region?

Link to the program recording here.

On 2 April, President Donald Trump declared high trade tariffs on goods from around the world in a move that he announced as “Liberation Day” for the American economy.

Nations around the world were hit with a 10% base tariff. US trading partners in Southeast Asia – which are major export economies – have been hit with much higher tariffs: Thailand (36%), Vietnam (46%), Malaysia (24%), Cambodia (49%), Laos (48%) and earthquake-stricken Myanmar/Burma (44%).

What will the impact be on Thailand and the wider region? Which sectors will lose the most, which will scrape by? What should Thailand and its neighbors do to engage with the Trump administration to reduce or end these tariffs, or is there no hope for such strategies?

And how will this all affect the Thai economy, whose performance has already been a source of criticism for Prime Minister Paethongthan Shinawatra and her government?

‍

Please join us for a night of insightful, hard-hitting analysis with the following speakers:

Supavud Saicheua, chairman of the National Economic and Social Development Council.

Veerayooth Kanchoochat, Deputy Leader of the People's Party and former professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Tokyo).

Nattakorn Devakul, Thai television host and political analyst.

Francesca Regalado, former Bangkok correspondent with Nikkei Asia.

Moderator: Gorya Ilada, Workpoint journalist, Chevening scholar and FCCT program committee member.