Thailand, along with the rest of Southeast Asia, received some help when US President Donald Trump decided delay Him “Liberation Day“Tariffs for 90 days. Now in US exports in the US only 10% tariffs, unlike 36% threatened Trump.
Asian markets have gone on wild riding since Trump first introduced its mutual tariffs on April 2, submitting and rising according to the president’s statements. The target index in Thailand decreased by 9% between April 2 to April 9, only to rally after Trump announced his tariff pause. However, the index has not yet resumed after the “Liberation Day” hit.
“We thought the mutual tariffs were overly high,” said Victor Chen, CEO of Delta Electronics Thailand, last week before Trump announced his tariff pause.
Actions in the United States caused “anxiety and great concern,” Chen said, but noted that customers still need to change or cancel any orders from the tariffs and instead accepted the expectation. Chen added later after Trump stopped his tariffs that customers use a 90-day pause at mutual tariffs to “stock up”.
The CEO also explained why his US clients, not his company, “will have to make an additional tariff except the initial sale price.” He emphasizes that most Delta Electronics Thailand products are classified as “free on board”, which means the seller’s responsibility is a US customer buyer.
Who pays for tariffs is the main political moment in the discussion around Trump’s trade policy, and the president and his supporters claim to be a foreign government or company pay for tariffs. Most trading experts note that it is actually an importer who pays: then can pass some, if not all, additional costs on end consumers. (Big importers, like Walmart, can also be able to force foreign suppliers To take a haircut at the price)
However, Chen was concerned that the steep tariffs of the United States would still indirectly affect its company, placing additional loads on its customers and pushing inflation pressure.
“The tariffs will certainly have a certain influence. The easy level will be in order … But the high tariffs for 15% will be difficult to accept any individual party and will lead to violations,” Chen said in the next conversation after Trump’s pause.
Chen noted that on the days of “Liberation Day”, the Thai government turned to industry associations and individual companies to understand how tariffs would affect their business. He predicted that Thailand would reduce tariffs for US goods and acquires more goods in the US, while coordinating with his colleagues southeastern Asia to agree with the US as a block.
Thailand send delegation to the US start trade negotiations The government said next week on Monday.
Focusing on EVS and data centers
Delta Electronics Thailand makes and distributes electronics, namely the power components used in elements, including electric data and data processing centers. The company currently operates with European and American cars, but Chen said Delta Electronics Thailand is starting to explore the work with Chinese Set up production capacity In Thailand.
EV adoption is growing in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, partly due to government incentives and debut of available Chinese cars. Southeast Asia turns out to be as charming The Chinese car market, due to the proximity to China and its more convenient political position in Beijing.
Last year, electric vehicles accounted for 33.6% of all new car registrations in Singapore, which compared to 18% in 2023, according to state data. In neighboring Malaysia, sales EV jump 19%to break 45,000; In Indonesia, EV sales have doubled to reach 43,000 units.
Chen was optimistic that the Delta Electronics Thailand would be able to take advantage of this advanced demand.
“Here, in Southeast Asia, we saw some success in EV Chargers. We see the sale of this – whether it is AC or DC – in particular, they grow here,” Chen explained.
As for the business at the data center, Delta Electronics Thailand said US companies are a significant base of customers, but refused to give specific names outside the AI Nvidia chip leader.
What is Delta Electronics Thailand?
Delta Electronics Thailand is a subsidiary of Delta Electronics, Taiwanese Electronics Manufacturers. The EVS Industry EV has helped increase revenue, profit and stock prices, which at one point helped make a subsidiary more valuable than its maternal company.
Delta Thailand Electronics also spent most of 2024 as the most valuable company in Thailand, and the market value is about $ 64.1 billion last November.
However, Delta’s stock price has since been on the slide, especially after the company reported profit with less than export in mid -February. The company’s shares have lost more than 50% of the cost since November. The set decreased just over 27% over the same period.
Yugi Taksima, a research analyst at Maybank Securities, warned in a March report that expenses and uncertainty about how a new minimum corporate income tax can serve as a head winding.
The world minimum tax is intended to interfere with multinational companies from reserving excessive income in jurisdictions with low taxation, ensuring that companies pay a minimum level of tax on each jurisdiction in which they work.
Previously, Delta Electronics Thailand was taxed by 5.5% in 2023. This will grow to 15%, starting this year, when Thailand introduced a “replenishment” tax in January when the country is looking for entry into the organization of economic cooperation and development.
Chen has Previously commented She may have been overrated that Delta Electronics’ stock prices in Thailand, noting that the cost coefficient to the profit “went through the roof”.
He confirmed these moods in his conversation with Wealth He noted that the prices for the promotions received “a little too speculative”.
Chen said he was focused on “business basics” among the tariff situation. According to him, the Delta Electronics Thailand is still at a healthy level and is still growing from year to year. Revenue for 2024 related 164.7 billion baht ($ 4.9 billion), which is 12.5% compared to a year earlier. The company’s income of 2023 at $ 146.4 bot ($ 4.4 billion) was 23.5% more than in 2022 and was due to the Mobility Group (EV) segment.
But even when EV growth decreases, Chen remains positive on the II infrastructure. At the beginning of the year, the company predicted a “two -digit income growth” due to investments.
“AI Build Out is a great impetus to support income this year, and we also see some positive benefits,” he said.
Originally this story was presented on Fortune.com
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2025-04-14 13:12:00
Lionel Lim
