Asian equities, currencies have weather US tariffs well - BMI

KUALA LUMPUR: BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, said Asian equities and currencies have weathered the United States (US) tariffs well so far, rising 18 per cent and three per cent respectively since the start of the year, shaking off the initial tariff shock.

AI Brief

Thailand's markets underperform due to political instability and border tensions with Cambodia.
US tariffs have led to slight GDP downgrades across Asia, with Cambodia hit hardest due to its export reliance on the US.
Asian exports outside the US remain stable for now, but trade patterns may shift as tariff impacts begin to show.

"Thailand stands out as an exception, with both its equities and the baht missing the rally since April.

"In our view, that is largely due to domestic political instability and the ongoing border conflict with Cambodia," it said in its Outlook Questions and Answers for Asia today.

BMI said it has lowered growth forecasts by only 0.2-0.3 percentage points for most other major economies due to US tariffs.

"We recently made a series of revisions to our 2026 GDP forecasts in response tothe tariff deals reached in July and early-August.

"Of these, the steepest downward revision we made was to Cambodia, on account of its relativelyhigh dependence on the US as an export market," it said.

BMI opined that there are no specific policy measures rolled out to cushion the expected impact of the tariffs as of the time of writing on Aug 15.

BMI said that for exports, available data show that Asian exports to markets outside of the US have mostly stayed on trend.

"This does not rule out future adjustments in trade with the rest of the world.

"The tariffs, in all likelihood, have yet to meaningfully feed through and we suspect deviations from the pre-Donald Trump trend will begin to show in the coming months.

-- BERNAMA