Vietnam's non-tariff barrier measure likely to affect Thailand's auto exports

BANGKOK, March 21 (TNA) - The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has targeted that the country's total export of automobiles should stand at about 1.1 million units in 2018, a drop from last year's figure of 1.13 million units due to some impacts from Vietnam's new non-tariff barrier measure imposed on imported cars from Thailand. FTI Acting Vice Chairman Surapong Paisitpatanapong, who is also Spokesman of the FTI's Automotive Industry Club, told journalists of the update and the targeted total auto export in 2018 on Wednesday, saying FTI has also targeted that Thailand's auto production this year should total about two million units. The spokesman stated that Vietnam has imposed the non-tariff barrier measure over the past two months, in which all shipments of Thai automobiles have been strictly inspected on the random basis, one car in each shipment instead of one car in each model previously, based on Hanoi's new criteria on environmental standards. According to the spokesman, some auto manufacturers in Thailand have, however, restarted exporting their cars to the Vietnamese market, at least about 2,000 units, after a brief suspension once Hanoi's new non-tariff measure was implemented early this year. Meanwhile, Kanchit Chaisupho, new head of the FTI's Automotive Industry Club, estimated that the Vietnamese new non-tariff barrier measure should result in a drop in Thailand's auto exports by about 4 per cent or about 40,000 units yearly, with the negative impact likely to be observed by mid-2018. Based on FTI statistics, Thailand's auto production during the first two months of this year, however, totaled 344,433, a 12 per cent increase from the corresponding period of last year, 142,011 of which were sold on the domestic market, thanks to the recovering Thai economy. Besides, Thailand's exports of completedly-built cars in February 2018 alone stood at 102,217 units, an about 4.05 per cent year-on-year increase and the fourth consecutive month increase, cushioned by rising exports to the Middle East, Latin America and Australia despite a drop in exports to the African, the European and the Asian markets, especially Vietnam. (TNA)