US-China trade tension pushes supply chains from China to Asean

Singapore

THE threat of a US-China trade war is speeding up the migration of supply chains from China to Asean, with Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines the main beneficiaries.

The gains from the trade diversion are indirect for Singapore, by way of an increase in Singapore exports of upstream components to Asean and regional hub-related services, says a report by Citi bank's economics research team in Singapore.

Entitled "Supply Chain Shifts to Asean: Taking Off?", the report says that China's exports to the US of the affected items are three times larger than Asean's. "Even if a small fraction of China's expo…