Southeast Asian leaders have long argued that they should not have to choose sides between the US and China. Indeed, trading nations such as Malaysia and Vietnam have arguably profited from heightened China–US rivalry over the last few years, attracting manufacturers keen to diversify away from China in order to maintain access to the US market. Beijing has long been the major target of US President Donald Trump’s opprobrium on trade. However, Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, announced on 2 April, have hit Southeast Asia particularly hard, throwing countries’ short-term economic plans into disarray, undermining the basis of their long-term development models, and pushing them further into an uncomfortable embrace with China, their largest trading partner.
Trump’s tariffs will push Southeast Asia uncomfortably close to China (Ben Bland, Chatham House)
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