Trans-Pacific View | Economy | Southeast Asia

Trade Agreement With US Close to Completion, Thai Prime Minister Says

Anutin Charnvirakul said that he expected to sign the Agreement on ⁠Reciprocal Trade during President Donald Trump’s next visit to Asia.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul addresses a meeting on the economic impacts of the Iran war in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 2, 2026.

Trade negotiations between Thailand and the United States are in the final stages and an agreement is expected to be signed as soon as next month, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said yesterday.

Speaking at a forum ​in Singapore, Anutin said negotiations on the Agreement on ⁠Reciprocal Trade (ART) are now on “the last ​paragraph” and that he ​expected to sign the final agreement during U.S. President Donald Trump’s next visit to Asia, Reuters reported. This could take place during the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines on November 16–18, which Trump has confirmed he is attending, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Shenzhen on November 18–19. Trump’s attendance at the latter summit has not yet been confirmed.

Anutin said that he received a ​letter from the U.S. president last week ​confirming the deal is at its final stage. “He ‌told ⁠me that I was to make sure that my people and the United States Trade Representative would write ​up the ​final clause,” the Thai leader said.

The U.S. is Thailand’s largest export market, and the country’s imports of Thai goods totaled $91.3 billion in 2025, according to U.S. government figures.

Bangkok and Washington have been negotiating a “reciprocal” trade deal with the U.S. since Trump’s initial “liberation day” tariff day announcement in April 2025, which hit Thailand with a 36 percent tariff.

In October 2025, the U.S. and Thailand announced a “framework” for an agreement on reciprocal trade, which reduced the tariff to 19 percent in exchange for a Thai pledge to “eliminate tariff barriers on approximately 99 percent of goods, covering a full range of U.S. industrial and food and agricultural products.” Under the framework, Thailand also promised to purchase more American energy, agricultural products and aircraft in order to close its $71.7 billion goods trade surplus with........

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