Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia benefited from US President Donald Trump's first administration, as Chinese companies re-routed shipments to these regions to avoid US tariffs. In his current term, President Trump's reciprocal tariffs aim to eliminate this arbitrage, but the significant tariff rate differentials between countries are creating an even greater incentive for Chinese companies to use transshipments.

US efforts to enforce tariffs have become a game of whack-a-mole, according to Ebehi Iyoha, a trade economist and an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. Iyoha also highlights how small US businesses are disproportionately affected by tariffs compared with large corporations. She joins John Lee and Katia Dmitrieva on the Asia Centric podcast.