US-China trade tussle is creating winners in Southeast Asia

(Sept 19): “No one wins from a trade war,” is a standard refrain among economists. Southeast Asian businesses are trying to prove that maxim wrong.

The region is capitalising on a rush of new orders and production moves as firms reconsider their business in the US and China amid a deepening trade war. About one-third of more than 430 American companies in China have or are considering moving production sites abroad amid the tensions, according to survey results released Sept 13 by AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai. Southeast Asia was their top destination.

Vietnamese furniture producer Phu Tai Corp is among those looking to cash in. The maker of home furnishings for Wal-Mart Stores Inc outlets in the US is planning for a 30% increase in its exports this year and in 2019, according to Deputy General Director Nguyen Sy Hoe. It’ll invest about US$10 million to expand two factories at its base in Binh Dinh province and to upgrade production lines in two other factories in Dong Nai further south.

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