(Feb 5): Thai companies want the government to step up efforts to shield local producers from a potential influx of cheap goods following the Trump administration’s move to slap tariffs on Chinese imports.

If Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government fails to act, the number of industries hit hard by cheap imports may swell to 30 from 23 last year, Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, told a briefing in Bangkok on Wednesday. The industries already bearing the brunt of the flood of imports are steel, plastics, electrical appliances and clothing, he said.

The plea for increased protection comes amid fears that Chinese exporters will flood its neighboring countries with products that it’s unable to ship to the US. Thai authorities are also preparing to avert any punitive tariffs on its exports to the US with which it posted a US$35 billion (RM154.5 billion) trade surplus last year.

Unabated imports of cheap products also threaten to further hurt Thailand’s manufacturing sector that’s driven down the average capacity utilisation at factories to about 56%. Thailand’s factory output fell for a fifth straight month in December with automobile sales tumbling amid weak demand.

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking, Thailand’s largest private sector group, also urged the government to include its representatives in a so-called war room set up to quickly devise strategies to deal with US President Donald Trump’s trade policies.

Kriengkrai said the government should hire lobbyists to deal with the US besides courting China to set up joint ventures with Thai companies to manufacture products to avoid US curbs.

Thai officials have said they will offer incentives to global companies seeking to minimise the hit from the US-China trade war. The country is dispatching Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan to the US this week for possible meetings with trade officials in a bid to head off any tensions.

The private sector group maintained its growth forecast of 2.4% to 2.9% for this year, saying Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy faced many risks, including an intensifying trade war and a strong local currency.

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