In 2017, Trump suspended duty-free trade of certain goods with Ukraine, citing concerns of protection of intellectual property rights. In the Friday proclamation, Trump cited concerns about protection of worker rights in Thailand.
US President Donald Trump reinstated duty-free trade between US and Ukraine for a number of items, while simultaneously suspending duty-free relations with Thailand.
“I have determined that Ukraine has made progress in providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. Accordingly, it is appropriate to terminate the suspension of the duty-free treatment,” Trump said in the proclamation on Friday.
The proclamation will become effective on 1 November. It is undisclosed what goods exactly the proclamation involves.
White House Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer withdrew a proposal to restore trade privileges to Ukraine in August after he was told that Trump would probably oppose the idea, the Washington Post newspaper said in a story earlier on Friday.
Then-National Security Adviser John Bolton allegedly informed Lighthizer that Trump would most likely oppose any action that benefited Ukraine’s newly elected government headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Washington Post story said.
In a separate letter written Friday to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump said he had suspended duty-free trade for certain Thai products, saying the country had not taken steps to “afford workers in Thailand internationally recognized worker rights.”
The taxes on trade with Thailand will reportedly be imposed in six months.
