Asia’s ‘big six’ who will be in big trouble if China pulls the yuan trigger
Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are the most exposed if caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war
OECD data shows Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia — Southeast Asia’s ‘big six’ economies — are among the most exposed economies to China in terms of trade.
INDONESIA: Southeast Asia’s biggest economy in July put in place pre-emptive measures bracing for the trade war. A weak yuan could hurt Chinese manufacturers’ ability to buy raw materials such as timber. The government has said it will “optimise the use of fiscal tools in the form of import and export taxes, as well as harmonising import taxes, so that industries would have their competitive edge and are able to export”.
MALAYSIA: A trade task force set up by Malaysia’s three-month-old government concluded this week the impact from the preliminary round of US and Chinese tariffs was “relatively minimal”. The trade minister Darrell Leiking said in July he saw a silver lining in the trade war. “China is a huge importer of our goods and we import a lot from them as well. I believe they will look into us even more [now] that a lot of their products are unable to go or are being tariffed.”
