IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jet/dpaper/dpaper986.html

The Effect of the US–China Trade War in a Neighboring Least-Developed Country

Author

Listed:
  • Hayakawa,Kazunobu
  • Kyophilavong,Phouphet

Abstract

This study empirically examines the effects of US tariffs against China on exports to the United States from Laos, a least-developed country bordering China. Using monthly firm-level trade data from January 2018 to December 2020, we found that all firms in Laos, except those of US origin, benefit on average from trade diversion in the US market. In particular, rising exports by foreign firms other than US-origin firms are not attributable to the transshipment of Chinese products. For example, China-origin firms that expand exports to the US do not import products from China. However, Lao firms’ exports to the United States appear to increase through the transshipment or minor processing of Chinese goods, although the scale of these exports is negligible. Moreover, Lao exporters increased their exports to the United States without reducing exports to non-US countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Hayakawa,Kazunobu & Kyophilavong,Phouphet, 2026. "The Effect of the US–China Trade War in a Neighboring Least-Developed Country," IDE Discussion Papers 986, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    • Handle: RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper986
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ir.ide.go.jp/record/2001717/files/IDP000986_001.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2026
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper986. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michitaka Imamitsu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/idegvjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.