Thai beef farmers oppose opening door to US beef

REPRESENTATIVES of nationwide beef farmers today (Apr. 17) submitted a letter to Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat opposing import of US beef as part of any settlement on the 36% tariff US President Donald Trump has imposed on Thailand, TV Channel 7 said.

The beef farmers, who also represent Thai Beef Association, had also given a letter to Thai Chamber of Commerce expressing their opposition to allowing import of US beef and offal before talks are held with the US administration.

They are concerned that the imported beef could be contaminated with red meat accelerators which is banned under Thai law. This would affect consumer safety and would be unfair to 1.4 million beef farmers nationwide, with the produce being worth over 200 million baht.

They added that they are currently having to cope with falling beef prices due to competition from imports from Australia and New Zealand under the Free Trade Agreement.

Importing US beef would make the situation worse for them, they added.

Earlier Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira will be travelling to US for talks on the new steep tariff on April 23, Amarin TV said.

However, her father/ de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra has already held informal talks with many people close to US President Donald Trump.

Paetongtarn said informally sounding out the American position is beneficial for the country and the Americans also want to know what the Thai standpoint is before formal discussions are held.

As the Thai standpoint is quite strong there should be a positive outcome for both countries, she added.

Photo: Naewna

This report was originally published by www.thainewsroom.com