Latest news with #ChatchaiLertviwatkul
NHK
3 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Thai firms rush to export to US before tariff deadline
As the end of the pause of what US President Donald Trump calls "reciprocal" tariffs is looming, businesses in Thailand are bracing for it. If the pause ends, Thailand will be slapped with 36 percent levies as Trump initially announced. Thailand's finance minister, Pichai Chunhavajira, met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday in Washington. They have been continuing their discussions but have yet to reach an agreement. At one pet food company in Thailand, 30 percent of its sales come from exports to the US. Staff are scrambling to pack the products as orders pour in from the US. Clients are asking the firm to deliver the pet food by the tariff deadline. The volume of shipments is surging to nearly twice that of a normal year. The company's operating director, Chatchai Lertviwatkul, says it is difficult to find new costumers that could cover its export sales to the US. He says the company is cutting costs in a bid to mitigate the situation, such as automating production. Chatchai is hopeful the talks will make progress and result in a lower levy.
The Independent
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Tariffs got claws: Cost of cat food set to skyrocket under Trump's import plan
Donald Trump 's global tariffs may be set to hit an unexpected group hard: cat owners. A week after Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariff plan went into effect on 'Liberation Day' on April 2, the president abruptly announced a 90-day pause to refocus his trade war on China. The U-turn offered reprieve to dozens of countries, including Thailand, the largest foreign supplier of pet food to the U.S., which faced a steep 36 percent tariff on its exports to the American market. Now, the 90-day pause, which caps import taxes at 10 percent for most nations, is set to end. If no deal is struck between Bangkok and Washington by the July 9 deadline and tariffs return to the 36 percent rate announced in April, pet food prices could rise on American shelves, leaving animal owners to shoulder the cost. In that scenario, Thai pet food producers have warned they may be forced to suspend shipments to the U.S. market. 'We need to pause shipping to the U.S. unless something changes,' Chatchai Lertviwatkul of S.I.P. Siam Inter Pacific told The New York Times. 'Our customers can't increase the prices that much at retail.' While Trump has shown no signs of having made progress toward his goal of making 90 trade deals in 90 days, Thai officials appeared hopeful that they could negotiate a reduction before the moratorium expires. Thailand's commerce minister Pichai Naripthaphan said earlier this month that trade talks with the U.S. are making good progress, adding he expects 'a 10 percent tariff' for the nation. Even the 10 percent baseline tariff imposed by Trump almost three months ago has proved challenging for Thai pet food exporters. Lertviwatkul said that any significantly higher rate would force the company to shift its focus to customers in Asia. Meanwhile, Lertviwatkul said that pet food producers feel powerless while they await a resolution between the two nations. 'We need to see how the Thai government will negotiate,' he said. 'There's nothing much we can do.' Tanut Totup, CEO of Bluefalo Petcare, told The Times that despite the looming tariffs on Thai goods, the steep levies imposed on Chinese imports have allowed his company to benefit from the trade war. The 54-year-old said that Trump's tariff threats accelerated plans to export products to the U.S. 'The thing is that we couldn't compete with China, but now we can,' he said. 'As long as Thailand's tariff is lower than China's, we're okay.'
New York Times
27-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Your Cat's Food Probably Comes From Thailand. Tariffs May Change That.
Over nearly 60 years and two generations, Chatchai Lertviwatkul's family business in Thailand was transformed from a manufacturer of leather gloves to a producer of pet food and treats, with a third of its products shipped to the United States from a modest factory on the outskirts of Bangkok. So when Mr. Lertviwatkul learned in April that President Trump wanted to impose a 36 percent tariff on goods from Thailand, he was stunned. What would that mean for his company, S.I.P. Siam Inter Pacific, and the country's pet food export industry? After a decade of rapid growth, Thailand is now the biggest overseas supplier of pet food to the United States, accounting for more than one-third of all imported cat and dog food. As Thailand and dozens of other countries near the end of a 90-day rollback of punishing tariffs to negotiate a permanent deal, Mr. Lertviwatkul, 52, said the shock had worn off, but the future of the company's American business remained unclear. 'We need to see how the Thai government will negotiate,' he said, speaking above the hum of a factory churning out lickable cat treats for a Canadian customer and mint-flavored dog snacks in the shape of a toothbrush. 'We need to wait and see,' he added. 'There's nothing much we can do.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
