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Washington has exerted influence on Thailand to reaffirm its dedication to a truce deal with the Cambodian side, indicating that trade talks could be halted as attempts are made to prevent a Trump-mediated peace agreement from falling apart.

Rising Border Hostilities

In recent days, Thailand declared it was suspending the truce agreement, alleging Cambodia of laying fresh landmines along the mutual frontier, among them an incident that allegedly injured a Thai military personnel on duty, who lost a foot in the blast.

Following this, a fatality occurred and several others wounded by gunfire along the Thai-Cambodia frontier, raising concerns of a new round of retaliatory clashes.

American Economic Leverage

Over the weekend, a Thai foreign ministry spokesperson told journalists that a letter from the U.S. trade office declaring the pause in trade negotiations was received on the previous evening.

The spokesperson referenced the letter as saying that trade negotiations – which are focusing on a 19 percent American duty – could restart once the Thai government reaffirmed its commitment to carrying out the mutual truce agreement.

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

President’s Economic Warning

Speaking to the press aboard the presidential plane as he traveled to the Sunshine State on the end of the week, the US leader suggested 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,” adding, “they are performing well. I believe they will be okay.”

Truce Deal Origins

The President witnessed the finalization of a peace deal, conducted in Malaysian territory this last autumn, and has promoted it as one of several deals around the globe he claims should earn him the prestigious peace award.

The worst fighting in a ten years between Thai and Cambodian troops broke out in mid-summer, with gunfire, artillery and airstrikes causing numerous fatalities and hundreds of thousands forced to flee.

Longstanding Border Dispute

The two neighboring countries have a longstanding border dispute that dates back to conflicts regarding maps from the colonial period created by French cartographers. Ancient temples along the frontier are disputed by each nation.

Reuters contributed to this report.