Bangkok: The Ministry of Commerce has released US tax information from the Department of Foreign Trade to monitor products that are at risk of falsely claiming a Thai origin when exporting to the United States.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Arada Fuangthong, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT), stated that due to the United States' measures to increase taxes on foreign countries, it has announced the collection of reciprocal import tariffs from countries around the world, with Thailand facing an additional tariff rate of 36% on top of the general import tariff rate (MFN).
The Ministry of Commerce, through the Department of Foreign Trade, has been diligently monitoring the evasion of US measures by other countries. This initiative aims to build confidence in US Customs that the exported goods are genuinely of Thai origin. The Department has identified 49 goods to monitor in the US, including solar panels, steel wheels for trucks, artificial stone sheets, and steel pipes. Exporters are required to submit a request for examination of the origin of the goods before applying for a general Form C/O certificate.
These measures are intended to screen goods and prevent US tax evasion from other countries. Exporters looking to apply for a General Form C/O Certificate for exporting goods to the US must first pass the Department's inspection of the origin of the goods. In cooperation with the US Customs Department, the inspections of the production processes of US goods have decreased from 10 to 6, with only 2 items found to have false claims of origin. The Department has revoked the General Form C/O Certificate for these items and imposed measures on the exporter. Additionally, the Department has intensified the process of applying for a General Form C/O Certificate.
Mrs. Arada mentioned that the department plans to expand the list of products under surveillance by closely monitoring trade statistics for other products at high risk of falsely claiming the origin of Thai products under the anti-dumping (AD) and 301 measures. Currently, it is also monitoring the list of products under the 232 measures to manage the risk of products falsely claiming Thai origin. The department will consider increasing the list of products under surveillance. Furthermore, it has been continuously coordinating and cooperating with the US Customs Agency to effectively prevent the problem of falsely claiming the origin of Thai products.