Looking east with confidence

At a time of heightened Sino-US rivalry, India must engage more with Southeast Asia as that will provide a template to join mega-regional groupings like RCEP and CPTPP

- N CHANDRA MOHAN

THERE ARE HUGE takeaways for India from US President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia, which saw leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, and South Korea fawn over him and conclude deals that may have undermined their leverage as a regional grouping.

Trump, however, met his comeuppance dealing with President Xi Jinping and secured a fragile trade truce on terms that tacitly recognise the US and China as equals. There is an opportunity for India to engage more closely with ASEAN that has faced the full brunt of the tensions between these two great powers that have an outsized presence in the region. The US is the largest investor while China is the largest trading partner and their rivalry will only intensify.

For a region that struggles to maintain closer relations with both the US and China, Trump’s tariffs on ASEAN members—ranging from 10% to 49%—struck a body blow to America’s standing in the grouping. Although he stated the US is 100% with the region, his approach is largely transactional in slapping Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia with levies of 24%, 36%, and 49% respectively, and later negotiating them down to 19% after signing deals for critical minerals with Malaysia and brokering a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia. There are deep-seated concerns over 40% tariffs on transshipped goods from China, 100% tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals, and prospective sector-specific levies on semiconductors.