Thailand Is 'One Paragraph' From a US Trade Deal, PM Says
PM Anutin Charnvirakul says he expects to sign the reciprocal trade agreement during Trump's Asia visit in November, after Washington hit Thai imports with a 12.5% tariff in July.
SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Thailand is at "the last paragraph" of a trade agreement with the United States, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a forum in Singapore, Anutin said he expected to sign the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade during President Donald Trump's next visit to Asia, likely in November in Manila or Shenzhen when Trump attends ASEAN meetings.
Anutin said that he received a letter from Trump 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."
In July, the US imposed a tariff of 12.5% on imports from Thailand.
The United States is Thailand's largest export market, accounting for 24% of the southeast Asian country's total exports so far this year.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Toby Chopra and Tomasz Janowski)
