There are no plans to meet US President George W Bush or US Trade Representative officials (USTR) responsible for free trade agreement negotiations with Thailand.

A source said that caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra planned to join the trip, which includes caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, other ministers with economic responsibilities, the heads of the Trade Negotiations Department, head of the Department of Foreign Trade, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Board of Investment as well as representatives of private sector outfits.

Somkid said he planned to spread the word that Thailand would not allow the FTA talks to languish and that they would resume once a new government was elected.

"Although we did not get very far with the FTA negotiations, we have to extract some advantages by setting up other forms of cooperation," said Somkid.

He said if Thailand faltered for too long, other countries in the region - mostly Malaysia and Vietnam - would seal trade deals ahead of the Kingdom.

The visit is scheduled for mid-July. He said Thailand must spell out its bottom line for the FTA, lest it lose the opportunity to finalise a pact by the end of the year.

Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said a concerted show of interest in an FTA with the US would help Thai companies increase their trade there.

He said the long-term suspension of all FTA talks, particularly with the US and Japan would result in large losses in Thailand, particularly the textiles and jewellery sectors.

Companies in those highly competitive sectors may, as a result, lose out to rivals in other countries, said Santi.

Somkid said chances were good that the US would soon cancel the 100-per-cent bank guarantees - or continuous bonds - that it requires Thai shrimp exporters to post. The bonds are linked to anti-dumping duties that were imposed in December 2004.

Under these duties, Thai shrimp products are subject to tariffs of 5.79-6.82 per cent and exporters must also post a bond to cover their orders before shipping to the US.

The US Trade Representative has indicated it might cancel the continuous bond for shrimp exports after Thailand filed a complaint over the practice with the World Trade Organisation in April, he said.

India, too, has made the same allegation against the US. Under WTO rules, the Thai petition would be revoked if the US cancels the requirement within 60 days of initial formal consultations.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation