The Thai Chamber of Commerce is calling on the government to create a war room to tackle tariff threats by the Trump administration.
The private sector is concerned such tariffs could significantly affect Thailand's economy, depressing growth to less than 3%.
Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of the chamber and the Thai Board of Trade, said the private sector is requesting the government form a special team led by the prime minister with representatives from both the public and private sectors to develop proactive strategies in response to drastic changes in US trade policy.
US import tariffs are expected to force many countries to shift to new markets, particularly Southeast Asia, especially for electronic products, electrical appliances, automobiles, industrial goods, consumer products, and agricultural and food products.
Mr Sanan said it is essential the government enforce stricter measures regarding the import of low-quality and cheap goods, as they could threaten fair competition.
He said for products that have already flooded the local market, strict enforcement of laws should be applied with a focus on smuggled goods that did not pay duties, as well as probes of unusually low pricing to prevent dumping.
Mr Sanan proposed the government consider new laws or measures to protect local businesses from dumping of foreign goods, reviewing competition laws to make them more suitable to the economic reality.
Poj Aramwattananont, vice-chairman of the chamber, said Thailand should explore increasing imports from the US, especially agricultural products, food and energy, to reduce trade balance pressures.
Moreover, reforming import tariff quotas with the US could strengthen Thailand's position in negotiations.
Mr Poj suggested the government focus on collecting and analysing data on the services trade deficit, such as digital services, management fees, royalties, banking, insurance, education and franchises. This data is crucial to understand the complex economic relations beyond goods trade, he said.
"Thailand faces a significant deficit in this sector and needs to gather data on total expenditures on these services to bolster negotiations," said Mr Poj.
Thailand must maximise benefits from the global trade restructuring, which could potentially result in a positive impact of 0.5-1.0% on Thai GDP, he said.
Thanavath Phonvichai, president of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), said this year the economy is at risk of less than 3% growth, missing the government's target of 3.5%.
The recent increases in tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China are expected to have indirect effects on Thailand, with damage estimated at 20-25 billion baht, causing GDP to decline by 0.1-0.5%, according to UTCC.
The vehicle tariff hikes could result in losses of 60-65 billion baht, reducing GDP by 0.35-0.4% and shrinking GDP growth to 2.6-2.8% this year.
If Trump decides to impose tariffs on goods from Thailand and other countries, the estimated minimum impact could range from 100-150 billion baht, with GDP dipping by 0.5-0.7%, leading to Thai economic growth of only 2.3-2.5% this year, noted the UTCC.
In 2024, preliminary data indicated Thailand's trade surplus with the US was the 11th-largest at US$45.6 billion.
However, there may be an opportunity to address trade imbalances with the US, said Mr Thanavath.