The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking will meet the prime minister on Thursday to discuss measures to deal with the new US trade policy, which is concerning entrepreneurs.
"The discussion will pave the way for the public and private sectors to draft a master plan for action in the short, medium and long term," said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The move follows US President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Other countries, especially those with trade surpluses with the US, are likely to be in a similar situation as their trade relations with Washington are being assessed.
"Thailand may also be on Trump's radar," said Mr Kriengkrai.
The country's trade surplus with the US was the 11th-largest globally at more than US$35 billion, or 1.2 trillion baht, in 2024.
"The government and business representatives need to jointly look at each industry to find out whether they will be affected by the trade policy," Mr Kriengkrai said.
Thailand is not only at risk of stiffer tariffs, but it will also encounter an indirect impact from the US-China trade war that will cause Chinese firms to change their shipping routes by exporting more products to Southeast Asia.
Small and medium-sized enterprises in more than 20 of 47 industries under the FTI are already being affected by the influx of low-cost Chinese products into the local market, said Mr Kriengkrai.
Global economic uncertainties, driven by Trump's trade policy and geopolitical conflicts, topped the list of growing concerns, gaining 51.9% votes from 1,350 entrepreneurs recently surveyed by the FTI.
Coming second was concerns over the domestic economy (50.1%), mainly due to the flood of Chinese imports into Thailand, affecting local manufacturers, including those in the plastics industry.
Despite these trade concerns, the Thai Industries Sentiment Index, which gauges business confidence in the manufacturing sector, increased to 93.4 points in February, up from 91.6 points in January, said Apichit Prasoprat, vice-chairman of the FTI.
He attributed the increase to various factors, including the Bank of Thailand's decision to lower the policy interest rate from 2.25% to 2%, the government's Easy E-Receipt tax rebate programme, and the growth of foreign tourist arrivals to more than 6 million people between Jan 1 and Feb 26, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%.