Reader Question: Does Thailand Affect Prices in ASEAN?

The mutual free trade agreement within ASEAN, the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement referred to above, already provides for, in principle, duty-free importation into the member states of goods that 'originate' in one of those ten member states. If all goes well, the - limited - exceptions that still exist when the AEC enters into force should be a thing of the past.

Incidentally, here and there – also in ASEAN circles – the AEC is sometimes compared to the EU. However, the differences are very large and the basis is simply different. The EU is based on a so-called customs union, which means that the member states all apply the same rate of import duties on goods from so-called third countries and that no import duties are then levied among themselves. The AEC will not be a customs union, but a free trade area in which Member States each apply their own tariff on imports from third countries, and in trade between Member States there is only an exemption from import duty for goods 'originating' in those other countries. member state. This prevents, for example, flows of goods entering ASEAN mainly via the country with the lowest tariff for the products in question and then being able to go to another Member State duty-free.