What does the 'ill wind' of US-China trade war mean for South-East Asia?

ASEAN countries proving largest beneficiaries

clock • 4 min read

The world has focused on the US-China trade war with increasing intensity since late 2018, and although during the G20 meeting in Japan, Presidents Trump and Xi agreed to resume talks, punitive tariffs remain in place.

When tensions initially escalated, most manufacturers thought the two sides would find common ground and higher tariffs would never be imposed. Then, as the first 10% actually hit, panic set in and companies scrambled to re-route products, or strike deals with customers and distributors to split the hit between them and leave end-consumers least impacted. Few believed the shift to 25% tariff increases would ever really materialise, but when January came with no resolution, manufacturers based in China began to act. Trade, tariffs and tax: Is China still a viable investment option? ...

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