And what is actually happening is that Trump is dumping on Asia and everyone else is turning to China. It's the exact opposite of what you'd want to happen. And this is is the art of the deal?
From here:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/0...push-southeast-asia-uncomfortably-close-china
'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.
Southeast Asian governments were shocked to be targeted with tariff rates similar to or higher than China’s 34 per cent, from
Cambodia (at 49 per cent) to Vietnam (at 46 per cent) and Indonesia (at 32 per cent)
Even as it frets about the impact on its own economy,
Beijing is seeking to make political capital from Trump’s missteps. China is positioning itself to Southeast Asia, and the rest of the world, as the responsible defender of the global trading system and rules-based order, in contrast to American unilateralism and economic coercion.
Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is likely to emphasize that message if he proceeds with a possible visit to Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam later this month.
As China and its neighbours risk being squeezed out of the US market, he wants to see greater economic integration with Southeast Asia and more market access for Chinese companies.
Xi will also advance his vision of an ‘Asia for Asians’, where China dominates and the US is marginalized.
