Coalition To Promote U.S.-Thailand Free-Trade Pact

ByJohn S. McClenahen The Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is joining with the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council and others to form a U.S.-Thailand FTA Business Coalition. The group will seek support for a U.S.-Thailand free-trade agreement among members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. President George W. Bush announced the intention to negotiate the bilateral trade pact on Oct. 19, during his current trip to Asia and Australia. "Thailand is an excellent choice for a free-trade agreement with the United States," says NAM President Jerry J. Jasinowski. "It is a thriving, industrializing economy with significant barriers to U.S. manufactured products. An agreement that eliminates tariffs and other barriers -- going both ways -- would help balance our trading relationship."