Thailand plans to limit online sales of foreign goods as Chinese imports come under closer scrutiny across a region that’s feeling an increasing impact from cheap items flooding the market and hurting local manufacturers.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin asked government agencies on Tuesday to increase steps to stop suspicious imports, including tougher inspection of licenses and registrations, payments and quality control.

The Thai leader wants stronger anti-dumping measures for both offline and online transactions by the end of the month, on top of the value-added tax slapped on imported goods below 1,500 baht since July 5 this year.

The Commerce Ministry plans to cap the quantity and value of goods imported online per year, government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said. Neither Srettha nor Chai referred to China but groups including Thai Industries and the Thai Chamber of Commerce have said local producers are reeling from competition with Chinese goods.

“There is an influx of imported products online at an abnormally high level,” government spokesman Chai Wacharonke told reporters after a cabinet meeting. “This is severely hitting our local producers, especially SMEs. We are not complacent about this.”

While China has come under fire periodically through the years for shipping cheap goods since its emergence as a manufacturing powerhouse decades ago, its exports have come under closer scrutiny of late as countries grapple with widening trade imbalances and factories shutting down.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have similarly increased their vigilance against Chinese imports in the past few months, with measures such as reviewing anti-dumping policies, initiating probes and reimposing tariffs. The crackdown covers goods including steel, textiles, plastics, leather, rubber, wood, and - lately - even consumer products.

Thailand has been hit particularly hard, with more than 3,500 factories shuttered in the past three and a half years, according to a report by local newspaper Thansettakij.

Online shopping platform Temu, owned by China’s PDD Holdings Inc, has recently entered Thailand, raising concerns about its impact. Other online retailers popular in Thailand include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Lazada and Sea Ltd’s Shopee.

“We need to implement measures to support our SMEs, so they can adjust themselves and compete in the market both offline and online,” Srettha said in a briefing, referring to small and medium enterprises.

Still, the government will try to “strike a balance” between shielding local businesses and complying with international trade agreements, Chai said.

  - Bloomberg