How South-East Asia can weather the Trump trade typhoon
The complacent region could use an outside jolt
In 1833 Edmund Roberts, President Andrew Jackson’s envoy, signed with the Kingdom of Siam in Bangkok a treaty of “amity and commerce”. It was America’s first in Asia, promising “commercial intercourse…as long as Heaven and Earth shall endure”. Nearly two centuries later, Thailand still feels the amity, and not just from America. “The Americans love us, the Chinese love us, we don’t have to choose sides,” boasted Pichai Naripthaphan, Thailand’s commerce minister, on November 7th. Mr Pichai thinks the America-China trade war, likely to escalate under Donald Trump, will only heat up the love-in.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Weathering the Trump trade typhoon”
From the November 16th 2024 edition
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