BANGKOK: Thailand plans to import more liquefied natural gas from the United States over the next five years, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Wednesday (Apr 16), ahead of a planned meeting to discuss tariffs with US officials early next week.
There is already an agreement to import 1 million tonnes of LNG worth US$500 million next year as part of a 15-year plan starting in 2026 totalling 15 million tonnes, he said.
Thailand is planning an additional contract for more than 1 million tonnes of US LNG worth about US$600 million over the next five years, Pichai said.
Thailand is an LNG importer and wants to be a distributor in the region and so will have to import more, he added.
The country also plans to import 400,000 tonnes of US ethane worth US$100 million over the next four years, Pichai said.
His remarks come ahead of talks between Thai and US officials set for next week. Thailand is among Southeast Asian nations hardest-hit by US President Donald Trump’s threatened export levies, with a 36 per cent tariff.
Seeking to negotiate a better deal, the government has said it would increase imports of US goods, such as corn, soybean meal, crude, ethane, LNG, autos and electronics, and aircraft. It would also review rules on imports of US pork and consider importing US beef and offal, as well as liquor.
The government has also said it will promote more Thai investment in the United States, and crack down on false claims about the origin of products that use Thailand to ship to America.
When the 36 per cent tariff was announced earlier this month, Pichai had said it could cut growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy by 1 percentage point.
Before the tariff was announced, the government was targeting growth of 3 per cent this year, after last year’s 2.5 per cent expansion, a rate far adrift of most of its regional peers.
