As President Donald Trump uses tariffs as a weapon in his quest to even the score on trade with the world, Asia is emerging as target No. 1. And it’s not just because of China.
Asia is home to seven countries that run the biggest trade surpluses with the United States, Trump’s go-to yardstick. It has some of the biggest exporters of goods that Trump promised to tax, like Japanese and South Korean cars, Taiwanese chips and Indian drugs. Many of the region’s countries have become top destinations for Chinese goods and investment, evidence that Trump cites to accuse China of using a backdoor into the U.S. market.
Trump’s plan to upend the rules of world trade could hurt Asia because the region relies so much on the global economy. But it will also scramble supply chains and trade flows that are already undergoing change as companies have sought alternatives to China as the source of their goods.
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