Trump tariffs in 2016 sent a glut of cheap Chinese imports, originally intended for the US, into South East Asia, hurting many local manufacturers. But they also opened new doors for other businesses, often into global supply chains that wanted to cut their dependence on China.
But Trump 2.0 threaten to shut those doors, which it sees as an unacceptable loophole.
In 2024, China earned a record $3.5tn from exports – 16% of those went to South East Asia, its biggest market. Beijing, in turn, has paid for railways in Vietnam, dams in Cambodia and ports in Malaysia as part of its “Belt and Road” infratructure programme that seeks to boost ties abroad.
In what Trump described as a “very productive call” with Vietnamese leader To Lam, the latter offered to completely scrap tariffs on US goods.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has ruled out retaliation against Trump’s tariffs, instead choosing to emphasise their economic and political importance to the US.
“We understand the concerns of the US,” Mr Zafrul told the BBC. “That’s why we need to show that actually we, Asean, especially Malaysia, can be that bridge.”
Last year China imported $18bn worth of chips from Malaysia. These chips are used in Chinese-made electronics, such as iPhones, typically bound for the US.
Trump’s proposed tariffs on Malaysia – 24% – could cut off the multi-billion dollar US market.
Cambodia, a Chinese ally, faces the steepest levies: 49%. One of the poorest countries in the region, it has thrived as a trans-shipment hub for Chinese businesses seeking to skirt US tariffs. Chinese businesses currently own or operate 90% of the clothes factories, which mainly export to the US.
Trump may have hit pause on these tariffs but “the damage is done,” says Doris Liew, an economist at Malaysia’s Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.
In these uncertain times , Xi Jinping is trying to send a steadfast message: Let’s join hands and resist “bullying” from the US.
That is no easy task because South East Asia also has trade tensions with Beijing.
In Indonesia, business owner Isma Savitri is worried that Trump’s 145% tariffs on China means more competition from Chinese rivals who can no longer export to the US.
“Small businesses like us feel squeezed,” says the owner of sleepwear brand Helopopy. “We are struggling to survive against an onslaught of ultra-cheap Chinese products.”
One of Helopopy’s popular pyjamas sells for $7.10 (119,000 Indonesian rupiah). Isma says she has seen similar designs from China going for around half that price.
“South East Asia, being close by, with open trade regimes and fast-growing markets, naturally became the dumping ground,” says Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute in Singapore.
While consumers have welcomed competitively-priced Chinese products – from clothes to shoes to phones – thousands of local businesses have not been able to match such low prices.
More than 100 factories in Thailand have closed every month for the last two years, according to an estimate from a Thai think tank. During the same period in Indonesia, around 250,000 textile workers were laid off after some 60 garment manufacturers shut, local trade associations say – including Sritex, once the region’s largest textile maker.
“When we see the news, there are lots of imported products flooding the domestic market, which messes up our own market,” Mujiati, a worker who was laid off from Sritex in February after 30 years, tells the BBC.
Chinese factories cannot afford to lose another key export market, such as South East Asia
South East Asian governments responded with a wave of protectionism, as local businesses demanded to be shielded from the impact of Chinese imports.
Last year Indonesia considered 200% tariffs on a range of Chinese goods and blocked e-commerce site Temu, popular among Chinese merchants. Thailand tightened inspections of imports and imposed additional tax on goods worth less than 1,500 Thai baht ($45; £34).
This year Vietnam has twice imposed temporary anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel products. And after Trump’s latest tariffs announcement, Vietnam is reportedly set to crack down on Chinese goods being trans-shipped via its territory to the US.
Allaying these fears would have been on Xi’s agenda this week.
China is concerned that channelling its US-bound exports to the rest of the world would “end up really alienating and aggravating” its trading partners, David Rennie, the former Beijing bureau chief for the Economist newspaper, told BBC’s Newshour.
“If a tidal wave of Chinese exports ends up swamping those markets and damaging employment and jobs … that’s a massive diplomatic and geopolitical headache for the Chinese leadership.”
Hao Le, in Vietnam, says he has seen a surge in enquiries from American customers scouting for new electronics suppliers, outside of China: “In the past, US buyers would take months to switch suppliers. Today, such decisions are made within days.”
Malaysia, with sprawling rubber plantations and the world’s largest medical rubber glove maker, has nearly half the world’s market for rubber gloves. But it is poised to grab a bigger share from its main competitor, China.
The region still faces a 10% baseline tariff, like most of the world. And that is bad news, says Oon Kim Hung, president of the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association.
But even if the paused tariffs kick in, he says, customers will find paying an additional 24% on Malaysian gloves vastly preferable to the 145% levy they will have to cough up for Chinese-made gloves.
“We’re not exactly jumping with joy, but this may well benefit our manufacturers, as well as those in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.”
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