Xi Jinping may try to woo the victims of Donald Trump’s tariffs
America’s chaos is a chance for China to wield influence in the region
Cambodians awoke on April 3rd to learn that their exports to America would face tariffs of 49%. As they took in the news, experts warned that the country’s garment industry, which accounts for more than half of export revenues and sells most of its wares into America, would be devastated. While President Donald Trump delayed enforcement of the 49% rate on April 9th, it could yet come back.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Asia reels—will China pounce?”
From the April 12th 2025 edition
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Why Asia’s love affair with gold persists
There’s more to it than cultural reasons
Where new talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un might go
A crisis is more likely than a genuine breakthrough
Japan faces a reckoning over rice
A crisis over its staple reveals cracks in the country’s food system
South Korea’s democracy has passed one big test
But it faces several more
Trump’s tariffs will pummel Vietnam
Though there are a few silver linings
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s disgraced president, is ousted
Democratic institutions have held firm, but the political mess will go on