Trump's 19% tariff rates ‘best news' for Thailand, Cambodia.
US set a 19 per cent levy on imports from Thailand and Cambodia, lower than the 36 per cent they originally faced, after President
Donald Trump earlier this month threatened to block trade deals with both countries unless they ended a deadly border clash.
Thailand on Friday welcomed the new proposed rate as a 'major success'. Bangkok has been negotiating with Washington for weeks, seeking a reduction in Trump's proposed 'Liberation Day' levies.
'This finalised deal, setting US import tariffs at 19 per cent, marks a major success for Thailand,' Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsab said in a statement. 'It represents a win-win approach aimed at preserving Thailand's export base and long-term economic stability.'
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet also welcomed the 19 per cent deal. 'This is the best news for the people and economy of Cambodia to continue to develop the country,' he wrote on social media on Friday.
Earlier this week, the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an immediate ceasefire to halt the worst clashes between the two nations in more than a decade, which left more than 40 people dead. The truce, however, has been tested, with Thailand accusing Cambodian troops of unprovoked firing in violation of the agreement.
Garment workers walk out of their factory during their lunch break in Phnom Penh. Prime Minister Hun Manet has hailed the 19 per cent tariff deal as 'the best news for the people and economy of Cambodia'. Photo: AFP
The new rates were unveiled alongside Trump's announcement that the US would keep minimum global tariff rates at 10 per cent, lower than the earlier threatened floor of 15 per cent or higher, according to a White House statement on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AllAfrica
34 minutes ago
- AllAfrica
Is Trump really winning his trade war?
Last week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order updating the 'reciprocal' tariff rates that had been paused since April. Nearly all US trading partners are now staring down tariffs of between 10% and 50%. After a range of baseline and sector-specific tariffs came into effect earlier this year, many economists had predicted economic chaos. So far, the inflationary impact has been less than many predicted. However, there are worrying signs that could all soon change, as economic pain flows through to the US consumer. Trump's latest adjustments weren't random acts of economic warfare. They revealed a hierarchy, and a pattern has emerged. Countries running goods trade deficits with the US (that is, buying more than they sell to the US), which also have security relationships with the US, get 10%. This includes Australia. Japan and South Korea, which both have security relationships with the US, were hit with 15% tariffs, likely due to their large trade surpluses with the US. But the rest of Asia? That's where Trump is really turning the screws. Asian nations now face average tariffs of 22.1%. Countries that negotiated with Trump, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines, all got 19%, the 'discount rate' for Asian countries willing to make concessions. India faces a 25% rate, plus potential penalties for trading with Russia. Students from an art school in Mumbai, India, created posters in response to Trump's latest tariff announcement. Photo: SOPA Images / Getty via The Conversation In the current trade war, it is unsurprising that, despite threats to do so, no countries have actually imposed retaliatory tariffs on US products, with the exception of China and Canada. Doing so would drive up their consumer prices, reduce economic activity, and invite Trump to escalate, possibly limiting access to the lucrative US market. Instead, nations that negotiated 'deals' with the Trump administration have essentially accepted elevated reciprocal tariff rates to maintain a measure of access to the US market. For many of these countries, this was despite making major concessions, such as dropping their own tariffs on US exports, promising to reform certain domestic regulations, and purchasing various US goods. Protests over the weekend, including in India and South Korea, suggested many of these tariff negotiations were not popular. Even the European Union has struck a deal accepting US tariff rates that once would have seemed unthinkable – 15%. Trump's confusing Russia-Ukraine war strategy has worried European leaders. Rather than risk US strategic withdrawal, they appear to have simply folded on tariffs. Some deals are still pending. Notably, Taiwan, which received a higher reciprocal tariff (20%) than Japan and South Korea, claims it is still negotiating. Through the narrow prism of deal-making, it is hard not to escape the conclusion that Trump has gotten his way with everyone – except China and Canada. He has imposed elevated US tariffs on many countries, but also negotiated to secure increased export market access for US firms and promised purchases of planes, agriculture and energy. Imposing tariffs on goods coming into the US effectively creates a tax on US consumers and manufacturers. It drives up the prices of both finished goods (products) and intermediate goods (components) used in manufacturing. Yet the Yale Budget Lab estimates the tariffs will cause consumer prices to rise by 1.8% this year. This muted inflationary impact is likely a result of exports to the US being 'front-loaded' before the tariffs took effect. Many US importers rushed to stockpile goods in the country ahead of the deadline. It may also reflect some companies choosing to 'eat the tariffs' by not passing the full cost to their customers, hoping they can ride things out until Trump 'chickens out' and the tariffs are removed or reduced. Despite Trump's repeated claims that tariffs are a tax paid by foreign countries, research consistently shows that US companies and consumers bear the tariff burden. Already this year, General Motors reported that tariffs cost it US$1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2025. A new 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products took effect on August 1. That announcement in July sent copper prices soaring by 13% in a single day. This affects everything from electrical wiring to plumbing, with costs ultimately passed to US consumers. The average US tariff rate now sits at 18.3%, the highest level since 1934. This represents a staggering increase from just 2.4% when Trump took office in January. This trade-weighted average means that, on typical imported goods, Americans will pay nearly one-fifth more in taxes. Earlier this year, many companies raced to bring inventory to the US before tariffs were imposed. Photo: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty via The Conversation The US Federal Reserve is concerned about these potential price impacts, and last week opted to maintain interest rates at their current levels, despite Trump's pressure on Chairman Jerome Powell. And on August 1, economic data released in the US showed significant slowing in job creation, some worrying signs in economic growth, and early signs of business investment paralysis due to the economic uncertainty unleashed by Trump's ever-changing tariff rates. Trump responded to the report by firing the US Bureau of Labour Statistics commissioner, a shock move that led to widespread concerns that official US data could soon become politicized. But the worst economic impacts could still be yet to come. The domestic consequences of Trump's tariff policies are likely to amount to a massive economic own goal. Peter Draper is professor and executive director, Institute for International Trade, and director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Trade and Environment, University of Adelaide and Nathan Howard Gray is senior research Fellow, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
South China Morning Post
34 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
‘China is next in line': after India, Trump tariff threats loom over Russian oil purchases
Even in the face of threats by US President Donald Trump to levy tariffs on countries that import Russian goods, analysts expect that China 'will not stop' buying oil from its northern neighbour, given their mutually beneficial relationship of energy cooperation. Advertisement Oil from Russia will continue to flow south over the long run because 'China's strategic goals require a stable and secure supply of critical resources such as oil', said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research in Canada. His comments came with Trump sharpening his threat of sanctions on Russia if it fails to engage in a ceasefire in Ukraine, where Moscow has waged war for the last three and a half years. Previously, both the United States and the European Union announced blanket sanctions on Russia, and they also tried to cut off its lifelines by threatening secondary sanctions on those helping it. 'The US said at the time that it would implement those [tariff] threats by August 7-9 if trade with Russia was not curtailed by then, and affirmed that China would be a target,' Gertken added. 'The US has already taken action on India, so China is next in line.' Advertisement Russia is China's top source of crude imports, supplying a record high 108.5 million tonnes, or 19.6 per cent of its total imports, last year. Guo Jiakun, spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference last week that 'China will take energy supply measures … based on national interests', while 'tariff wars have no winners'.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump says US-China deal ‘very close', links agreement to Xi Jinping meeting
US President Donald Trump said he was 'getting very close to a deal' with China to extend the trade truce that saw the two countries agree to reduce tit-for-tat tariff hikes and ease export restrictions on rare earth magnets and certain technologies. 'It's not imperative, but I think we're going to make a good deal,' Trump said in an interview with CNBC, adding that the US was 'getting along with China very well'. Still, Trump downplayed the notion that he was eager for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying he would only want to see his Chinese counterpart as part of an effort to conclude trade negotiations. 'I'll end up having a meeting before the end of the year, most likely, if we make a deal,' Trump said. 'If we don't make a deal, I'm not going to have a meeting.' 'It's a 19-hour flight – it's a long flight, but at some point in the not too distant future, I will,' Trump added. A preliminary deal between the US and China is set to expire on August 12. That initial truce eased worries of a tariff war that threatened to choke off bilateral trade between the world's two largest economies and also gave the countries more time to discuss other unresolved issues such as duties tied to fentanyl trafficking. Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in Stockholm – the third round of trade talks between the US and Beijing in less than three months.
