Many people may have heard the word FTA and wondered what it is. Why do we need to do FTA? What are its benefits? And how is it related to Thailand? Therefore, in this article, CPLINTER has brought various interesting facts about FTA to tell you.

What is FTA?

FTA or Free Trade Area, short for Free Trade Area, is an international trade agreement, which may be between 2 or many countries, with the objective of reducing trade barriers, including reducing customs duties between each other within the group to the least or 0% and using higher normal tax rates than countries outside the group. In the current implementation of free trade areas, it does not focus on liberalizing the reduction of taxes and non-tax trade barriers alone, but also includes liberalizing other areas such as investment services, trade facilitation, product protection, etc. Currently, Thailand has FTA agreements with 18 countries, including ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Peru, Chile, India, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. Principles and concepts of FTA When making an FTA agreement, countries in the group will choose to produce products in which their country has expertise or has an advantage in production and has the lowest production cost. They will exchange the produced products with products in which their country is at a disadvantage in terms of trade. As a result, both countries will benefit from each other in terms of trade, which has the following principles:

1. Production based on the principle of division of labor. Each country chooses to produce products with low production costs and high production potential.
2. No protective tariffs to protect or defend domestic industries.
3. No special privileges or barriers to products from any country.
4. Taxes are collected at the same rate and are equally fair to products from all countries.
5. There are no trade restrictions that are obstacles to international trade in controlling imports or exports, except for controlling certain products related to health and hygiene, which are harmful to humans, and products related to national security.

Benefits of FTAs

1. Reduce trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff barriers.
2. Reduce import taxes, making product prices cheaper, allowing people to buy a wider variety of products.
3. Increase export opportunities by both finding new markets and expanding existing markets.
4. Increase domestic trade competitiveness to stimulate the country's economy.
5. Develop economic potential. And attract foreign investment.
6. Create bargaining power in economic, political and other economic cooperation and production technology.
7. Build closer relationships.

In conclusion, FTA or free trade zone is a free trade agreement resulting from the cooperation of 2 or more countries. Agreeing to exchange goods to reduce trade barriers between countries under a joint agreement Which is beneficial to each otherIf you want to import and export, CPLINTER provides comprehensive logistics services at competitive rates, along with a wide range of additional support to ensure a smooth experience for every customer. Our services include product packing, export documentation preparation, and both import and export customs clearance.

If you're interested in importing or exporting goods, feel free to contact CPL at 091-519-4426 or 02-519-4426. To ensure a seamless shipping process, you may also send us the details of your shipment in advance for a preliminary review via LINE: @cplinter.

For more information, please visit www.cplinter.com or watch WHAT IS EP.25: FTA International Trade Agreements in the clip. https://youtu.be/UR4P92jhgJY