East Asia’s change in fortune spells trickier trade policy landscape for a second Trump term

Published May 12, 2024 6:00am ET



Many countries in Asia beyond China have gotten significantly richer in the past decade, meaning that a much different set of trade policy circumstances would face Donald Trump if he takes office in January.

Times are much different than at the outset of Trump’s first presidency, when he ditched former President Barack Obama’s plans to form a Pacific-nation pact meant to ensure that the United States, not China, set the terms of trade. Trump instead launched a direct trade war with China. Now, that dispute, under President Joe Biden, is stretching on toward a decade. In the meantime, many of the nations around China have also gotten richer, in part by deepening their reliance on China for trade. 

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