Bangkok lifts corn tariffs to placate Washington

duties on a broad set of American goods to head off higher US tariffs on Thai exports. The corn decision is the clearest sign the government is willing to trade farm protection for certainty on market access. Thai equities were mixed. The SET Index traded sideways as investors weighed margin upside for feed-intensive proteins against stress building for domestic growers. Integrated livestock names and feed millers were bid on the open, while agriculture-linked plays with upstream corn exposure lagged. Pork and poultry exporters saw the cleanest readthrough from cheaper feed, while corn traders and farm input distributors faced pressure. The baht was little changed, with traders splitting the difference between a near-term rise in agricultural imports, which is mildly negative for the current account, and the medium-term relief from the US tariff overhang, which is supportive for risk. Bond yields barely moved; this is a relative-price story first, and a fiscal story later. ...