BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy stands to gain from any U.S.-China trade war, Thai Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said on Thursday, adding the Southeast Asian country had good relations with both nations and would not need to take sides in a dispute.
In a trade war, U.S. imports of Chinese goods would drop and Thai products should replace them, meaning that Thai exports to the U.S will increase, he told reporters.
“We have a good balance between the U.S and China … the Americans love us, the Chinese love us, we don’t have to choose sides,” he said, adding a delegation of American businesses visit Thailand in November.
Pichai said he hoped for more investment from the United States, citing plans by hard disk producers Seagate and Western Digital to expand their existing operations in Thailand.
(Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon, Thanadech Staporncharnchai, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by John Mair)
