Japan, Thailand Should Speak Up to U.S. on Tariffs; Emerging Countries Should Diversify Their Markets
BANGKOK — Former Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara told The Yomiuri Shimbun that Japan and Thailand should join hands to talk to the United States over the high tariffs sought by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The following text, excerpted from his interview, has been edited for flow and clarity.
***
Trump's tariff policy was unexpected. No one thought that the U.S., which has been promoting free trade and capitalism and was the leader in setting up the world order by supporting international organizations like the WTO and IMF after World War II, [would act this way].
The world was peaceful under this world order. Nowadays, the world situation has changed because capitalism grew fast, and even communist countries have to adapt to it. The U.S. thought that under this circumstance, it was at a disadvantage. The other countries could integrate well with the system that the U.S. established, including China.
The U.S. used to be the only power, but China silently grew. The labor cost was cheap so everyone invested in China. Trump thought the situation shouldn't continue like this. So, he came up with 'America First,' having economics lead to security.
Trump is a businessman. His concept is that 'When we invest in something, we should have a return and profit.' He analyzed what was the U.S.'s strength and weakness.
In countries that can't sell goods well, their economies would be weakening, especially in emerging countries, which are export-oriented. [Taking advantage of this situation,] Trump imposed tariffs as a tool to bring the others to the table to lessen what the U.S. lost [in terms of a trade deficit], or even to gain a surplus.
Thailand has a good relationship with the U.S. and Western countries. We have established our relationship with China because we want to trade, and we learned that relying on one side could harm the country's [Thailand's] security.
I believe that trade is important, but relationships are more essential, which includes economic, security, cultural, social and geopolitics. If the Thai [tariff] negotiation team thinks like me, they should bring other aspects to the table, too. We [Thailand] have to tell them [the U.S.] how important we are [to the U.S.] in this region.
ASEAN is one of the U.S.'s targets because we have large trade surplus with the U.S., and we are exporters. The U.S. thought it's not difficult to talk with ASEAN because ASEAN depends on the U.S. market. Now it is a chance for the U.S. to request ASEAN to purchase their goods. Each ASEAN country has a different level of economic growth. Some countries are closer to the U.S., while the others are not. I think it is hard to unite.
We should diversify our market to other countries like those in Africa, South America and the Middle East.
The U.S. once forced yen appreciation during the Plaza Accord, but it didn't make the U.S. and Japan hate each other. This situation is similar [now in that the U.S. tries to impose high tariffs on its allies].
Thailand exports cars to the U.S. and faces high tariff rates. Japan can speak on Thailand's behalf against collecting high tariffs from Thailand because it would affect both Thailand and Japan. For automobiles, Japan can tell the U.S. how much Toyota, Mitsubishi and Isuzu invest in Thailand. We should join hands to talk to the U.S. because both of us are impacted. Japan is a big economy in Asia and it has louder voice. That could help a lot.
— This interview was conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent Tetsuya Mizuno.
Parnpree Bahiddha-NukaraParnpree studied at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, the University of Southern California in the United States and elsewhere before holding government positions related to trade and industrial policy. After serving as a member of Parliament, he served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister from 2023 to 2024. He is 67.
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