Will Donald Trump’s trade crusade ultimately benefit Southeast Asia?

Business is good, but Nguyen Van Khanh is nervous. The vice-chairman of Ho Chi Minh City’s shoes and leather association might be expected to count among the so-called winners of the United States’ trade war with China, especially as Vietnam’s trade with the US has intensified in the past year.Its exports to the US surged past US$25 billion in the first five months of this year, a 36 per cent jump from the same period last year – and footwear is Vietnam’s third-most-important export to the US,…