DPA
Bangkok - Thailand's manufacturers of air conditioner units have expressed concerns about tough competition from Chinese imports when the China-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) cuts tariffs on the item in January, media reports said Saturday.
'This FTA will cause difficulties for domestic sales and exports to neighbouring countries,' Phairat Uechooyos, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' Air-Conditioning Club told The Nation newspaper.
Phairat said that Chinese-made air conditioners in some categories sell for about one-third the price of Thai-made units. China produced about 34 million air conditioners last year compared to 17 million units manufactured in Thailand. Thai A/C exports earned the country 300 billion baht (8.8 billion dollars) in 2008.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a FTA with China in 2006, immediately removing tariffs on 3,906 items. Another 2,660 items, including air conditioners, will become tariff free in January 2009.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, a combined market of about 600 million people.
3 comments:
So, the Chinese decided to sell cheap air conditioner units from cheap labor. This is good way to hurt other nation.
Thailand's manufacturers of air conditioner units should be concern. No manufacturers could compare with something that is cheap.
Chinese manufacturers have already acquired a large place in the air condition market. They are providing high quality machines at cheaper rates nowadays.
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