Trump seeks November signing of Thailand-US tariff deal

Letter and November target

Government spokesperson Ekkapop Pianpises said Anutin instructed Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun to push the remaining negotiations. Thai officials described the talks as in their final stage. The letter has not been published, and no signing date has been announced. Bangkok has not disclosed which issues remain unresolved.

The push follows a September round in Washington. Suphajee said on 4 September that both sides had agreed the main terms of a reciprocal pact, after meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer on 1 September. A planned 21-27 September visit to the US still had no confirmed Trump meeting as of 18 September, The Star reported. Suphajee said talks between the two leaders had previously been proposed for 17 or 18 September.

What the framework set

Thailand and the US agreed a framework for an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade in October 2025. Under it, Thailand pledged to remove tariffs on about 99 percent of US goods, the White House said at the time. Washington set out a 19 percent reciprocal tariff on qualifying Thai imports and possible zero-tariff treatment for selected products. The framework also listed planned purchases of US agricultural and energy products and 80 American aircraft worth around $18.8 billion. It covers non-tariff barriers, digital trade, intellectual property, agriculture, labour standards and economic-security cooperation.

The 19 percent reciprocal rate was imposed under an IEEPA executive order, according to the Council on Foreign Relations' tracker. On 20 February 2026, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's IEEPA tariffs, ruling that the law cannot be used to levy tariffs, CFR reported. Customs and Border Protection ended collection on 24 February and retracted the executive order that imposed the reciprocal tariff. The ruling removed the legal basis for the tariff rates countries had agreed in frameworks, CFR said, leaving the administration to rebuild its tariff regime under other statutes.

In July 2026, Washington imposed a separate Section 301 tariff on Thai goods as part of an investigation into countries accused of failing to restrict imports linked to forced labour. The Thai government said the measure was a net increase of 2.5 percentage points from the previous base for affected products, and more than 2,120 Thai product lines were exempt. Section 301 tariffs remain in place after the Supreme Court ruling, CFR said.

Stakes for Thailand

Suphajee put Thai exports to the US at about 1.9 trillion baht, or $58 billion. When the framework was agreed in October 2025, the World Bank projected Thai growth of 2 percent for 2025 and 1.6 percent for 2026, against 4.1 percent in 2018, The Diplomat reported. Factory output fell 4.19 percent in August 2025. Suphajee told a Bangkok forum, according to The Nation, that Thailand's growth 'has been continuously slowing down.'

Before the court ruling, Thailand's 19 percent rate was in line with Cambodia and Malaysia and slightly below Vietnam's 20 percent, CFR reported. Malaysia's rate had been cut from 24 percent announced on Liberation Day. Trading partners watch how their rate compares with competitors as closely as the nominal figure, CFR argued.

Unresolved issues and next steps

Commerce officials have said the remaining talks involve forced labour safeguards, industrial capacity, market access and possible increases in Thai purchases and investment involving the US. Thai media reports on 6 October said the government wanted preparations completed for a possible November signing.

Trade talks have been interrupted before. In November 2025, Bangkok said the deputy US trade representative had suspended negotiations until Thailand reaffirmed its commitment to the October 26 joint declaration with Cambodia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. Thailand said the suspension was lifted after a call between Anutin and Trump. The Diplomat reported that the US had not confirmed resumption of trade talks. Anutin said then, according to the Bangkok Post, that Thailand could find other markets. 'If we can't trade with them, we'll find others to trade with.'