Page 6 - FDMAsia MayJun 2025

4 EDITORIAL MAY/JUN 2025 FDM ASIA | www.fdmasia.com

Published by:
NEW EASTERN MEDIA CO., LTD
Charting managing director

Kenneth Tan

kentan@fdmasia.com
Turbulent Waters editor

Jackie Wong
jackiewong@fdmasia.com
assistant editor
Sandy Sun
sandy.sun@fdmasia.com
he last couple of months have been a turbulent one, with the US tariffs graphic designer
Lu Ying
sending shockwaves across the world, not just for the high rates imposed, designer@fdmasia.com
Tbut also for the comprehensive coverage. Then in flash, a 90-day pause business manager
Ding Yongmei
was granted to Southeast Asia, and later on, the same was given to China as well. ding@fdmasia.com
marketing assistant
The temporary reprieve afforded the market some optimism, but with little Wasabi Liu
wasabi.liu@fdmasia.com
development in terms of trade talks since then, concerns have started to grow
operations executive
once more. Martin
martin@fdmasia.com
The 90-day pause for Southeast Asia will end in the first week of July and
circulation executive
with a typical delivery lead time of a month, US orders may stop coming in from Steven Sheng
circulation@fdmasia.com
June onwards without any new trade deals. contributors
ITTO
The outlook remains an uncertain one and as the last few months have taught Saman Ghahri
Park Byung-Dae
us, market sentiment can easily swing either way. Yang Kong
Riding on the AI trend, I asked ChatGPT what should Asian manufacturers Du Guanben
Avishek Chanda
do in such a challenging environment and the suggestions were to realign supply Muhammad Khusairy Bin Bakri
Rajan Adhikari
chain, change production strategies, and search for alternative export destinations Vikram Yadama
as price competitiveness in the US erode.
Perhaps easier said than done, but already, we are seeing some US customers
diversifying the product sources, especially to India, in order to mitigate risks.
At the same time, governments are looking to boost domestic consumption,
while establishing new partnerships with other parts of the world.
These may bring much needed opportunities for the market, or perhaps, the

trade barriers will be removed just as suddenly as they came in the coming weeks.

Jackie Wong