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The United States has applied pressure on the Thai administration to recommit to a ceasefire agreement with the Cambodian side, indicating that trade talks could be paused as attempts are made to prevent a Trump-mediated ceasefire arrangement from falling apart.

Border Tensions Escalate

Earlier this week, Thai officials declared it was suspending the ceasefire deal, accusing Cambodia of planting new explosives along the shared border, among them an incident that reportedly injured a Thai soldier on patrol, who lost a foot in the blast.

Following this, one person has been killed and several others wounded by exchanges of fire along the border between the two nations, raising concerns of a fresh wave of retaliatory clashes.

US Trade Pressure

Over the weekend, a representative from Thailand's foreign office told journalists that a official communication from the U.S. trade office announcing the pause in trade negotiations was received on Friday night.

He quoted the letter as saying that trade negotiations – which are addressing a US tariff of 19% – could restart once the Thai government renewed its pledge to carrying out the joint ceasefire declaration.

“Trade talks are ongoing and distinct from frontier matters,” said a different official representative.

Trump’s Tariff Threat

Addressing reporters aboard the presidential plane as he flew to Florida on the end of the week, Trump implied that he had employed tariff warnings in calls with the south-east Asian leaders.

He stated, “I stopped a war just today through the use of tariffs, the threat of tariffs,” continuing, “they are performing well. I believe they will be okay.”

Ceasefire Agreement Background

The President witnessed the finalization of a peace deal, held in Malaysia this last autumn, and has promoted it as one of multiple agreements around the world he claims should win him the Nobel Peace prize.

The most severe clashes in a ten years between Thai and Cambodian troops broke out in mid-summer, with exchanges of fire, shelling and aerial attacks leaving dozens of people killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee.

Longstanding Border Dispute

Thailand and Cambodia have a historic territorial disagreement that dates back to disagreements over maps from the colonial period created by French cartographers. Ancient temples along the border are disputed by each nation.

International news agency provided input for this coverage.