China-US trade deal a blip in seismic shifts of Asian trade

BANGKOK (AP) — The trade agreement signed by President Donald Trump and Beijing's lead trade envoy comes amid seismic shifts in supply chains and investment hastened by the tariff war that began in 2018.

For Thailand, that's meant some fallout from reduced demand for certain products but increased exports of other items, and a bump in investment by companies shifting away from China, officials in Bangkok said Thursday.

“Over the next two years, this is probably the best time for attracting foreign investment into Thailand, thanks to President Trump," Kobsak Pootrakool, an adviser to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, told reporters at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand.

Throughout Asia, the clash between Washington and Beijing has had a mixed impact, with long-term consequences that have little to do with Trump's agenda for trade with China.

The landslide victory of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in last weekend's election partly was driven by an economic rebound thanks to revived demand from both the U.S. and China for Taiwan-made computer chips, analysts say.

Many in Asia are waiting to see what comes next, and in the meantime making the most of opportunities created by the disruption from the trade war.

Kobsak said visits to Thailand's Board of Investment jumped by half last year.

“Because of the trade war, they are thinking of alternative routes, and Thailand is one of them," he said. “Within the gloomy period, there is a good spot that we can work on."

The last two years have been a mixed bag for Thailand. With global trade slowing, exports fell 2.8% in January-November 2019 from a year earlier. A surge in the value of the Thai baht, which makes exports more expensive in overseas markets, has also hurt.

“It's been a challenging time for the...