Thailand still in deficit with China under ASEAN-Sino FTA
25 December 2006
Thailand still in deficit with China under ASEAN-Sino FTA
BANGKOK, Dec 25 (TNA) — Thailand remained with a deficit of more than Bt1.7 billion (about US$46.6 million) in trade with China under the ASEAN-Sino Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement during the first nine months of this year, according to the Foreign Trade Department (FTD).
FTD director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said Monday that the total volume of Sino-Thai trade under the ASEAN-Sino FTA rose by 24 per cent to US$18.46 billion in the January-September period.
In that period, Thailand’s exports to China totalled $8.34 billion in value while imports totalled $10.12 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.78 billion.
However, Thailand continued to enjoy a farm product trade deficit of $591 million in the period.
Key export products that benefited from tax reductions by China include farm products, specifically cassava, fresh fruit, dry lychee, frozen fish, frozen shrimp and orchids, and industrial products, including polycarbonate, mixed rubber, rubber products, kerosene and bitumen petroleum.
Key imports included agricultural products such as apples and Chinese pears, and industrial products including machine parts, radio transmission equipment, telephones and television, steel-fabricated semi-finished goods, and digital processing equipment.
As a result of FTA implementation during the past two years, Mrs. Apiradi said, Sino-Thai trade had expanded 32 per cent on average.
Although Thailand had experienced a trade deficit with China, the volume is set to decline since Thailand had more recently had an opportunity to export more industrial products that benefited from tax reductions. (TNA)-E005
