For years, countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand have worked to turn themselves into alternatives to China for factories making the bags, electronics, shoes and auto parts that eventually end up in the United States.
That is now poised to change after President Trump on Wednesday aimed his most punishing tariffs at countries in Southeast Asia.
The news came as a hammer blow to American companies that have come to depend on factories in the region amid growing U.S.-China trade tensions. Some were asking: Where to now?
“This is much worse than what most of us had anticipated,” said Sonal Varma, chief economist for Asia excluding Japan at Nomura, the Japanese bank.
There were no illusions that any one country in Southeast Asia would be spared, but the size of the tariffs was a shock, as many of these countries are trade partners and allies with the United States.
Vietnam and Cambodia were singled out with new tariffs of 46 percent and 49 percent — among the steepest meted out to any country in the world, not accounting for earlier tariffs on specific sectors and countries such as China. In Thailand and Indonesia, the tariffs were high too, at 36 percent and 32 percent.