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US-ally trade wars
Asia

Asia rushes exports to US as Trump’s tariff deadline looms

May saw record exports to the US from Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand as companies front-loaded shipments to circumvent impending duties

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An American flag flutters over a ship and shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles, in California. The threat of new US tariffs starting in early July is forcing companies to get goods onto vessels and to the US as quickly as possible. Photo: Reuters
Bloomberg
The US trade deficit with Asia is widening as American importers stock up ahead of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs deadline.
Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand all reported record exports to the United States in May, according to data released in the past few weeks. South Korean shipments were near a record last month and look to have grown again in early June, data released on Monday showed.

Those highs flip the normal historical pattern, where trade is stronger in the latter part of the year as Asian suppliers ship to the US ahead of Christmas holidays. The threat of new US tariffs starting in early July is forcing companies to get goods onto vessels and to the US as quickly as possible.

A container is loaded onto a cargo ship docked at Hai Phong port, Vietnam, in April after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries. Photo: Reuters
A container is loaded onto a cargo ship docked at Hai Phong port, Vietnam, in April after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries. Photo: Reuters
Shipments from Vietnam and Thailand to the US both jumped 35 per cent in May from a year earlier, while Taiwanese exports soared almost 90 per cent. Those historic gains are likely to start showing up in the US data this week, when May data is released, and could complicate negotiations between Trump and economies across the region on the level of tariff the US will set.
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The US trade deficit has blown out this year as companies try to deal with the sudden changes to Washington’s tariff and trade policy. While a sharp rise in pharmaceutical imports from Europe has contributed to the shortfall, Asian nations are the largest single contributor to the gap.

The forecast is for the US trade deficit to have been US$91 billion in May, enough to take it to almost US$643 billion so far in 2025 – well beyond the previous record for this stage of the year set during the pandemic.

If Trump imposes historically high duties on countries across Asia in early July as he is threatening to do, that surge in exports could quickly reverse, undermining economic growth across the region.

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