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

Rising Border Hostilities

Earlier this week, Thai officials declared it was putting on hold the truce agreement, alleging Cambodia of laying fresh landmines along the mutual frontier, including one that reportedly wounded a Thai military personnel on duty, who suffered a foot amputation in the explosion.

Since then, one person has been killed and several others wounded by gunfire along the border between the two nations, raising concerns of a new round of tit-for-tat fighting.

US Trade Pressure

On Saturday, a Thai foreign ministry spokesperson told journalists that a official communication 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 discussions on trade – which are addressing a US tariff of 19% – could restart once the Thai government renewed its pledge to implementing the mutual truce agreement.

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

Trump’s Tariff Threat

Speaking to the press aboard the presidential plane as he traveled to the Sunshine State on the end of the week, the US leader implied that he had employed tariff warnings in discussions with the ASEAN nation heads.

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.”

Truce Deal Origins

Trump oversaw the signing of a ceasefire agreement, held in Malaysia this October, and has touted it as one of several deals around the world he says should win him the Nobel Peace prize.

The most severe clashes in a ten years between military forces of both nations erupted in mid-summer, with exchanges of fire, shelling and aerial attacks leaving dozens of people killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee.

Historic Frontier Conflict

The two neighboring countries have a historic territorial disagreement that originates from disagreements over maps from the colonial period drawn up by the French. Historic shrines along the frontier are claimed by both sides.

Reuters provided input for this coverage.