The spoils of trade war: Asia’s winners and losers in US-China clash

Tiger economies like Hong Kong will feel bite from trade war, but as US tariffs push up cost of Chinese products, Asia’s low-cost manufacturers stand to gain

Still, it’s a fleeting victory – in the long term, everyone’s a loser

Reading Time:9 minutes

Vietnamese employees weld at a car plant in Hai Duong. The country stands to gain from the US-China trade war. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:00am, 18 May 2019Updated: 2:31am, 19 May 2019

For Bangladeshi garment maker Viyellatex Group, the spiralling trade tensions between China and the United States that have roiled global markets have instead been a boon for business.

US tariffs have pushed up the cost of Chinese-made products so buyers have turned to the company, a leading producer in Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest exporter of ready-made garments.

“Until recently much of our exports were to the European market, but since the US-China trade war began, we are getting more and more bulk orders from US buyers,” Viyellatex Group chairman David Hasanat said.

“Immediately after [US President Donald] Trump started the trade war last year, three American buyers who had folded their business in Bangladesh two years ago came and placed bulk orders with us.”

Three out of every 10 clients Hasanat now serves are from the US, up from two in 10 last year – including top American brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. The company’s turnover was close to US$200 million last year.

Like Bangladesh, other Asian economies that are home to low-cost manufacturing hubs such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are not in a state of panic, despite both superpowers announcing tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s goods that economists say will cripple global growth and hit exporting countries hard.

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