(AseanAll) — Raising the intra-Asean trade is one of the ways to help mitigate the impact from the ‘Reciprocal Tariff’ that went into effect on the afternoon of April 9,2025, was the message delivered by Umesh Pandey, Thailand Trade Representative to an audience of about 100 Thai and Vietnamese businessmen.
Thailand and Vietnam, that have both been slapped with 37% and 46% ‘reciprocal tariff’ need to raise their trade to new levels from the nearly US$ 20 billion seen in 2024 in order to offset the impact of the US’ tariff.
Thai companies have been enjoying success in Vietnam, a market of more than 100 million young people while Vietnamese companies such as VietJet has become one of Thailand’s leading low-cost carriers.
During the VietCham Business Networking Dinner, Umesh stressed a greater cooperation and the increase in trade and investments among the 10-member Asean group is paramount to helping offset the impact of the turmoil in trade. Intra Asean trade in 2024 stood at US$ 753 billion or 21.5% of the US$3.5 trillion in trade by the group.
