The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China will benefit Thailand and Asean member states to play a starring role in US supply chains. Asean will be a more attractive destination for FDI, particularly in high-tech sector. The main reason for optimism is that the US is moving forward with implementing its Indo-Pacific strategy, with free and open as core terminologies for the various bilateral relationships with the US in this region.

The strategy aim to strengthen economic cooperation between the US and Indo-Pacific nations while also allowing the US to support the region against potential coercion and loss of sovereignty. The strategy aims to further open sea lines of communication and airways, which are vital lifelines for many Asian economies. It’s estimated that 50 per cent of world trade goes through the Indo-Pacific along sea routes, particularly the South China Sea, where China has been intensifying its claims of sovereignty.

Though there will be some disruption in the course of the US adjusting its economic relationship with China, an adjustment that is long overdue and inevitable, in the immediate term, there is thus a huge opportunity embedded in the current strained economic relationship between the US and China.