1. US-Southeast Asia Trade is Increasing, but so are Deficits
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Conventional narratives are either supported by facts or overcome them. Recent increased trade flows between the US and the ten economies of Southeast Asia suggest that the predominant narrative of the commercial displacement of the United States by China in Southeast Asia is incorrect. However, the United States’s growing trade deficits and shrinking surpluses with Southeast Asia do bolster an American mercantilist narrative that bilateral deficits are an economic loss for the US caused by Southeast Asian governments’ unfair trade policies.
- Topic:
- Global Markets, Economy, Trade, and Deficit
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Southeast Asia, and United States of America