"Thai pork producers are bracing for intense competition as the US seeks duty-free access to a $3bn market. Bangkok, Thailand Stewed, seasoned with sugar and cloves, deep-fried or dished up in a zingy chilli mince the diets of most Thais are incomplete without pork. But a $3bn market supplied nearly entirely by domestic pig farmers may be about to face competition like never before from the giant hog farms of the world's third-largest producer, the United States."
"While the fine print of the Thai government's preliminary trade deal with the US is yet to be revealed, some details have emerged. Washington has a 10,000-item-long wish list of goods it wants to enter Thailand duty-free to reduce its $45.5bn trade deficit with the Southeast Asian country, an imbalance President Donald Trump says unfairly disadvantages US producers. The list includes pork, corn, soya beans and some fruits."
"They include Thailand agreeing to address and prevent barriers to US food and agricultural products in the Thai market, according to the White House, and a commitment to expediting access for US meat and poultry products. That has panicked Thailand's pig farmers, who say the industry may not survive a flood of cheaper, subsidised US pork, which is fattened up on ractopamine, a livestock additive banned in many countries, including the kingdom."
Pork is a staple in Thailand, with a nearly entirely domestic industry supplying a $3bn market. The United States is seeking duty-free access for pork among a 10,000-item wish list aimed at reducing a $45.5bn trade deficit with Thailand. Preliminary deal details include a tariff rate set at 19 percent for the kingdom's exports to the US and commitments for Thailand to address barriers to US food and agricultural products and expedite access for US meat and poultry. Thai pig farmers fear a flood of cheaper, subsidised US pork, raised with ractopamine, could devastate the domestic industry and threaten food security.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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