Young, Kind call on Thailand to end import restrictions on U.S. ag products

Iowa Congressman David Young and Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind today sent a bipartisan letter to Thailand's Ambassador to the United States Virachai Plasai calling for Thailand to remove its unfair restrictions on American goods, specifically pork. The letter, signed by 44 members of Congress, says Congress may take action to suspend or completely end Thailand's trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences if their restrictions on imports of American farm products are not lifted.  

"The Generalized System of Preferences allows countries like Thailand to access our market duty-free with certain goods, but they have failed to meet the requirement of reciprocal access for American products," said Congressman Young. "If Thailand does not allow American pork and other farm products into their country as is required under GSP, Congress may have to act to remove Thailand from the list of eligible countries."

"With 95% of the world’s population living outside our borders, expanding export markets is vital to Wisconsin’s rural and small economies. The U.S. provides benefits to Thailand through the Generalized System of Preferences – but it is not a one-way street. Thailand should live up to its end of the bargain and ensure fair access for American products," said Congressman Kind.

Read the letter below. A digital version, with the signatures of all 44 members, is available HERE.

Dear Ambassador Plasai:

We write to express our concerns over unfair trade restrictions the Kingdom of Thailand is placing on U.S. goods. 

In the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) most recent listing of foreign trade barriers, much of the extensive section covering Thailand is devoted to restrictions on imports of agricultural products. Meanwhile, Thailand’s exports to the United States are relatively unencumbered and often face low or zero tariffs.

As you may know, Thailand is the second largest user of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, with $3.9 billion in U.S. imports from Thailand benefitting from GSP tariff savings in 2016.

The GSP renewal legislation passed by Congress in the 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act contains a new requirement directing the USTR annually to prepare a report on the extent to which GSP beneficiary countries are meeting the statutory eligibility criteria.  The eligibility criteria include providing reciprocal market access for U.S. products. Today, it appears that Thailand fails this test. This is why USTR announced last week their acceptance of the National Pork Producers Council’s request to review Thailand’s GSP benefits.

We are strong supporters of the GSP program because it benefits U.S. businesses and consumers through tariff savings while also supporting U.S. development objectives through robust enforcement of the GSP eligibility criteria. It is our hope that Thailand and all beneficiary countries will continue making progress toward meeting the GSP eligibility criteria in order to maintain full participation.  As U.S. Representatives representing congressional districts in some of the largest pork producing states in the United States, we ask Thailand to remove its restrictions on imports of U.S. farm products, including its ban on imports of U.S. pork. If significant progress is not made, we anticipate that the United States may soon consider whether it is appropriate to suspend some of Thailand’s GSP benefits in order to ensure better compliance with the letter and spirit of the eligibility criteria.  We hope to work cooperatively so that this step is not necessary.

Sincerely,

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