In the days following the January 2025 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, many Asian governments believed Trump¡¯s second term would bring benefits for the region.
The White House promised a tough line against China, which had been menacing other states in regional waters and also pledged to combat Beijing¡¯s supposedly illegal trade actions. Washington had already started discussing tariffs and a more transactional trade approach, but most Asian governments were accustomed to dealing with such transactionalism. In the first Trump administration, Asian leaders like former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were among the most effective in dealing with the U.S. president, and many politicians in the region felt ready to handle a second Trump presidency.
They were wrong. In 2025, the U.S. administration¡¯s policies shook up Asian economics, trade and security more than any White House in decades. Waves of imposed on both Asian allies and countries historically shunned by Washington upended supply chains and entire trade flows in a region home to the and some of the world¡¯s biggest exporters. (The White House has raised the United States¡¯ overall tariff rate to levels not seen since the Great Depression.)
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