The United States has agreed to start official tariff negotiations with Thailand, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.
Mr Pichai revealed the development in a short video he posted on Facebook on Saturday.
In the clip, he said Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa reported that the US had made an official response to Thailand, saying it would start negotiations on mutual trade and tariffs.
He said that actually Thailand and the US had held unofficial discussions on the matter and he believed that proposals from Thailand were mutually beneficial.
“This does not mean that we are just beginning. In fact, there have been informal talks. We had discussions in our team and think that the content of the discussions are beneficial to both sides. I will keep reporting developments about the upcoming official negotiations,” Mr Pichai said.
In the clip, he did not say when the official negotiations will start.
Thailand faces a 36% US tariff if a reduction cannot be negotiated with Washington before a moratorium expires in July.