‘ASEAN’ races to seal U.S. tariff deals; Thailand lags ‘Indonesia-Vietnam’

After U.S. President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, negotiations with individual countries have continued. The latest clear breakthrough was a U.S.-Indonesia trade agreement, signed on Thursday, February 19, 2026 (U.S. local time). The signing took place during a meeting of the Board of Peace in the United States.

Three ASEAN member states attended the meeting—Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia—with both Indonesia and Vietnam showing progress on trade arrangements with the United States.

Reuters reported that Indonesian and U.S. companies signed 11 trade and investment agreements worth a total of $38.4 billion (about 1.2 trillion baht) in Washington on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 (U.S. time), ahead of a meeting between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and U.S. President Donald Trump to jointly sign a final trade agreement.

The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) said the 11 agreements, signed preliminarily at a dinner hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in honour of Prabowo, cover cooperation in mining, energy, agribusiness, textiles, furniture and technology, including:

• Indonesian companies will buy 1 million tonnes of soybeans, 1.6 million tonnes of corn and 93,000 tonnes of cotton from the United States, with no timeframe specified.

• Indonesia will buy 1 million tonnes of wheat in 2026, rising to as much as 5 million tonnes by 2030.
• $200 million worth of used clothing for recycling.
• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan and Indonesia’s Ministry of Investment on cooperation in “critical minerals”.
• An agreement between Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina and U.S. oil services giant Halliburton to work together to improve oil recovery efficiency.
• Two joint-venture agreements in “semiconductors”, including one project worth $4.89 billion.
• Cooperation on a “cross-border free trade zone” between Galang Bumi Industri and Solanna Group LLC.

USABC estimated the value of Indonesia’s soybean purchases at $685 million, wheat at $1.25 billion, cotton at $122 million, and an additional $200 million in purchases of used clothing for recycling from the United States.

Previously, during 2015–2024, Indonesia imported an average of 2.3 million tonnes of soybeans a year from the United States, nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat, about 180,000 tonnes of cotton, and less than 100,000 tonnes of corn, according to U.S. Census Bureau trade data.

In recent years, Indonesia has imported U.S. agricultural products worth about $3 billion a year, making Indonesia the 11th-largest market for U.S. farm products.

President Prabowo said in a speech that Indonesia wants partners willing to help improve and upgrade its industrial sector. He said the agreements signed are part of the U.S.-Indonesia trade deal, which is scheduled to be formally signed on Thursday, February 19, 2026 (U.S. local time), and will help reduce Indonesia’s trade surplus with the United States.

Prabowo arrived in Washington this week to attend Trump’s Board of Peace meeting. Indonesia hopes it can negotiate a slight reduction in the tariff rate to 18% from the 19% agreed last year, to match the rate Trump granted “India” earlier in February.

In his dinner remarks, U.S. Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer did not mention Indonesia’s final tariff rate, saying only that a reciprocal trade agreement between the two democracies “will mean more trade, more bilateral trade, it will mean more investment as well, and it will mean a deeper, broader and more comprehensive relationship in economics, investment and trade”.

‘Vietnam’ offers to buy 90 aircraft

On the same day in the United States, three Vietnamese airlines announced the signing of major agreements to purchase as many as 90 aircraft worth $30 billion (more than 930 billion baht) from U.S. planemaker Boeing, as Vietnam and the United States negotiate a new trade agreement. Vietnam’s top leader, General Secretary To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is also visiting the United States to attend the Board of Peace meeting.

The airlines involved were:

• National carrier Vietnam Airlines, which signed an $8.1 billion agreement to buy 50 Boeing 737-8 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled for 2030–2032. This would bring its total fleet to about 151 aircraft by 2030. In addition to narrow-body jets, Vietnam Airlines is negotiating with Boeing to buy another 30 wide-body aircraft worth up to $12 billion.
• Vietnam’s new airline Sun PhuQuoc Airways signed an agreement worth $22.5 billion to buy 40 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
• Low-cost carrier VietJet Airlines signed a $965 million financing deal with Griffin Global Asset Management to purchase six Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

Earlier in February, Vietnam said it was ready to increase imports from the United States after the White House announced in October 2025 that the United States would remove tariffs on some items, but would keep the import tariff rate on most Vietnamese goods at 20%.

Watching the Vietnam-U.S. deal

Tuoi Tre newspaper’s website in Vietnam reported that the Vietnamese leader witnessed the signing of Vietnam-U.S. cooperation agreements worth $37.2 billion on Wednesday local time, covering science and technology, digital transition, aviation and public health—expected to be part of the U.S.-Vietnam trade and investment agreement currently under negotiation.

Beyond the major Boeing aircraft purchase, cooperation in other areas was also reported. For example, Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology issued a licence for satellite telecommunications services to Elon Musk’s Starlink. In public health, hospitals in Vietnam signed purchases of cancer treatment technology systems from Mevion Medical Systems.

‘U.S.’ hopes Thailand can form a government on schedule

Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun said Thailand continues trade tariff negotiations with the United States to reach conclusions on each issue. She said there are multiple issues where the two sides’ demands differ, and some matters require policy-level approval.

Most recently, on February 12, 2026, director-general-level talks were held. The United States congratulated Thailand on conducting its election smoothly and expected the formation of a new government to be completed on schedule. The two sides also discussed the negotiation timeline and the drafting of an agreement linked to the status of government formation.

Both sides expect to reach conclusions quickly. The United States would not object if Thailand submits, before the negotiations are concluded, a list of products to be exempted from Reciprocal Tariffs (RT) under Annex 3, or other proposals—but any decision would depend primarily on the outcome of negotiations.

Suphajee said that, compared with some ASEAN countries, she believes Thailand remains on an equal footing with other ASEAN states, whether through Annex 3 exemptions or without different conditions being imposed.

As for Malaysia, she said eligibility would arise only after 60 days of implementing steps for the agreement to take effect under Malaysia’s domestic law and after a notification letter is sent to the United States. At this stage, exports listed in Annex 3 would still have to pay RT as normal.

“On the timeline, Thailand—through the Ministry of Commerce—plans to accelerate efforts so that negotiations can be concluded in a way that benefits both sides, and be completed within July,” Supajee said.

Negotiations department says there is still no comprehensive conclusion

Chotima Iemsawasdikul, Director-General of the Department of Trade Negotiations, told Krungthep Turakij that no issue has been fully concluded yet—especially agricultural goods, where technical details are still being discussed.

She said the United States previously proposed that Thailand cut tariffs and adjust some related measures, particularly non-tariff measures (NTMs). In practice, nothing has been finalised because the overall agreement must be considered as a whole—especially the legal text that is being discussed technically among relevant agencies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

“At this stage, discussions are at the official level and are technical negotiations—such as standards, inspections, certification and market access. There is no policy-level conclusion yet,” she said.

Talks with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) have been held for 2–3 rounds, involving experts and officials from relevant agencies on both sides.

Since late 2026, there have been no further policy-level talks, as many issues under negotiation involve policy matters that may bind the next government, so clarity from the new government is needed.

As for some ASEAN countries signing agreements with the United States, she said each country has different contexts and conditions. Thailand’s negotiations must be conducted carefully, with safeguarding national interests as the priority.

“The negotiations are not only about issues where Thailand must reduce or relax measures. Some proposals are opportunities to upgrade Thailand’s regulatory standards to align with international standards, which could benefit the trade system in the long term,” she said.