Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin points out three main issues in the case of Chinese goods flooding the Thai market.
The prime minister posted a message via X stating that there are currently at least three issues arising from the influx of Chinese goods into the Thai market, causing concern for Thai producers unable to compete on price.
These issues include false declaration through the Free Trade Zone, with prices lower than 1,500 baht to deliberately avoid value-added tax.
Another issue is the dumping of cheap Chinese-made goods in the Thai market through online sales and taking advantage of the Free Trade Zone specified for the benefit of customs duty in the operation of industrial activities, commerce, or other economic activities beneficial to the country.
The last one is smuggling of goods through customs checkpoints by falsifying information to avoid taxes.
These three issues have impacted entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and small-scale Thai traders who suffer from the inability to compete on prices due to cheaper imported goods. Additionally, these products often lack quality certification from state agencies and face intellectual property rights violations, he said.
He added that hee received a proposal document from the Joint Private Sector Committee regarding strategies to address this issue and have instructed the permanent secretary for finance to immediately engage in discussions with the director-general of the Revenue Department and the director-general of Customs Department today.
At the very least, the immediate action should include the collection of value-added tax to prevent domestic businesses from being disadvantaged. Further discussions on other issues will be conducted to address the problem successfully in the future. (TNA)
