Malaysia and Thailand have pledged to clamp down on Chinese companies transshipping goods through their territories to dodge US tariffs, but analysts say their warnings are unlikely to stop a rapid surge in Chinese investment into Southeast Asia.
Senior figures in both countries have spoken out against tariff-dodging in the days leading up to the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has vowed to ramp up a trade war with China.
Malaysia’s deputy trade minister, Liew Chin Tong, told a forum days earlier that his country had asked Chinese companies to avoid using Malaysia as a base to “rebadge” products to avoid being slapped with a made-in-China label, according to media outlets in Kuala Lumpur.
In Thailand, a production centre for foreign carmakers, customs director general Theerat Atthanawanit said that more goods would “flow” into the country after Trump takes office and “steps up the trade war with China”, Bangkok-based news outlet The Nation reported last month.
The official added that he had instructed Thai customs checkpoints to monitor for illegal imports.
Southeast Asia has come under scrutiny due to the flood of Chinese investment that has poured into the region since Trump launched a trade war with Beijing during his first term in office.