The files we follow: France-Japan diplomatic relations; Relations between Japan and the countries of Asia Pacific; US Relations with Indo-Pacific countries
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Two months after our initial brief on the subject regarding the apprehension of Indo-Pacific countries about the risks of rising tariffs under the new U.S. administration, the verdict has been delivered. On April 2, 2025, Donald Trump announced a series of tariff measures against these countries. The surprise was all the greater as these tariffs turned out to be much higher than those imposed on China in February (10%). Thus, the new U.S. tariffs have hit several Southeast Asian countries hard: 49% for Cambodia, 46% for Vietnam, 36% for Thailand, and 17% for the Philippines.
While the global economy as a whole is being undermined by the decisions of the U.S. president, the Indo-Pacific countries are particularly vulnerable. Many of these economies are developing or have only recently industrialized, with limited budgetary flexibility and high sensitivity to global market fluctuations, not to mention their dependence on exports and foreign investment. While they had benefited during Donald Trump’s first term from a significant economic advantage with the relocation of companies that had previously been based in China, they are now in a particularly precarious situation. For example, multinational companies such as Nintendo, which had relocated part of their production to Vietnam to bypass the tariffs on Chinese imports, now face 46% tariffs on Vietnamese goods. The economic system and development policies in the Indo-Pacific now seem compromised.
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