US pushes for all-embracing free trade pact with Thailand

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US business groups pushed for a comprehensive free trade agreement with Thailand, including quota-free sugar imports opposed by American farmers and a Thai guarantee to weed out corruption.

"No products should be excluded from the agreement," Ernest Bower, president of the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Council, told a US International Trade Commission hearing on the proposed pact.

The US sugar industry wants to shut out Thai sugar imports, which it claims is heavily subsidised by government.

But Bower said by ensuring that US companies had increased access to Thai goods, particularly sugar, Washington would "send a strong signal that it is wholly committed to supporting US business interests both at home and...