WHAT comes around, comes around.
It’s been months since the trade war between United States and China erupted. It’s a clash that even the Philippines has been affected. All throughout the cycle, the policies of US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jingping clashed.
The United States has imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. In response, China imposed new taxes on $60 billion worth of American imports.
China’s trade sanction is lighter than that of the Americans because Beijing is running out of American products to impose tariffs on. This is one reason why Trump believes that the United States can easily win a trade war with China.
In the aspect of geopolitics, China can undermine US efforts to disarm North Korea by not enforcing US sanctions. China can also confront the United States in the South China Sea.
An escalation of the trade war could lead to China becoming more belligerent. Other options include attempting to isolate Taiwan, and deepening ties with Russia as a counterbalance to the US and accelerating its military buildup.
Indeed, the US-China trade war is creating some winners in Southeast Asia.
According to Bloomberg: “The region is capitalizing on a rush of new orders and production moves as firms reconsider their business in US and China amid a deepening trade war. About one-third of more than 430 American companies in China have or are considering moving production sites abroad amid the tensions, according to survey results released Sept. 13 by the American Chamber-China and the American Chamber-Shanghai. Southeast Asia was their top destination.”
In reality, the Philippines cannot afford to miss participating in this major wave of industrial relocations from an increasingly expensive China. (Jumel G. Estrañero, Defense Research Analyst & College Faculty, bluebaby_lemuj@yahoo.com)