Illustrative image (Photo: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) – The Thai Ministry of Commerce said on September 20 that thecountry’s exports dropped 4 percent in August from a year earlier after anunexpected rise in the previous month.
Accordingly,customs-cleared outbound shipments fetched 21.9 billion USD in August, largelythanks to front-loading imports to avoid the imposition of the US tariffsstarting on September 1.
Moreover,the uncertainty of trade disputes clouds the global economy, causing a slowdownin most of Thailand’s major trading partners, including ASEAN and South Asia.
Fallingglobal oil prices suppressed exports of oil-related products and an oversupplyof agricultural products in the global market as well as baht appreciation arestill downside risks for Thai shipments. In the first eight months of this year,Thailand’s exports contracted by 2.2 percent to 166 billion USD.
Director Generalof the Trade Policy and Strategy Office Pimchanok Vonkorpon said a variety ofchallenges, namely the global economic slowdown, a prolonged trade disputebetween the US and China, and baht appreciation casts a shadow over Thaiexports for the remaining months of 2019.
She said theMinistry of Commerce set an export growth target of 3 percent, maintainingmature markets, expanding to new areas, and restoring trade with long-losttrading partners in the second haft of this year.-VNA
