Thailand Denies Reports of Using Security Cooperation as Tariff Leverage in US Trade Talks

Thailand's government has denied reports that it plans to use military and security cooperation as leverage in its ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. According to Thai PBS, Rachada Dhanadirek, a spokesperson for the government, stated that the talks would focus solely on achieving fair and balanced trade between the two allies. The denial comes after a Bloomberg report suggested that Thailand was preparing to warn the US administration that steep US tariffs could force it to scale back military cooperation. This included the annual Cobra Gold joint exercises, a cornerstone of the US-Thailand alliance that has taken place since 1982. However, Rachada emphasized that security cooperation would be quarantined from ongoing US tariff negotiations and would not be used as leverage in the talks. Rachada also stated that existing military exchanges will proceed as planned, including Cobra Gold, which involved around 8,000 personnel from 30 countries in its last iteration in February and March. She emphasized that Thailand and the US share broad and deep ties across many areas, including the economy, trade, security, and people-to-people relations. Thailand has been negotiating a reciprocal trade deal with the US since President Donald Trump's initial tariff announcement in April 2025. The negotiation of a final agreement has been complicated and delayed by the seemingly constant shifts in US tariff policy. Thailand is among the 44 economies that the US Trade Representative (USTR) threatened with a 12.5 percent tariff after concluding that they had taken insufficient steps to stop forced labor under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. The US government has accused Thailand of an alleged failure to legislate against imports of goods made with forced labor and structural overcapacity in three sectors: automotive and parts, machinery, and rubber products. Thailand has challenged both of these determinations, while offering to eliminate tariffs and adopt US standards for imports of beef, lamb, and alcoholic beverages. The Bloomberg report noted that Thailand is betting that its status as a US treaty ally will guarantee it a slightly better deal than other Southeast Asian nations, such as Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia, that have already established trade deals with the Trump administration. However, explicitly linking tariff talks to the security relationship would have been a risky and provocative move given the volatile temper of the Trump White House and the uncertain state of the US-Thailand relationship. ## Thailand's Ongoing Trade Negotiations with the US Thailand's trade negotiations with the US have been ongoing since President Donald Trump's initial tariff announcement in April 2025. The negotiation of a final agreement has been complicated and delayed by the seemingly constant shifts in US tariff policy. Thailand is among the 44 economies that the US Trade Representative (USTR) threatened with a 12.5 percent tariff after concluding that they had taken insufficient steps to stop forced labor under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. ## The Importance of the US-Thailand Security Relationship The US-Thailand security relationship has been a cornerstone of the alliance since 1982. The annual Cobra Gold joint exercises have taken place since then, involving personnel from 30 countries. Rachada emphasized that security cooperation would be quarantined from ongoing US tariff negotiations and would not be used as leverage in the talks. However, the US government has accused Thailand of an alleged failure to legislate against imports of goods made with forced labor and structural overcapacity in three sectors: automotive and parts, machinery, and rubber products.