As trade tensions between global superpowers continue to simmer, their ripple effects are being felt across industries and borders — though not always in predictable ways.
In Southeast Asia, startup founders and industry leaders are navigating this shifting landscape with a mix of caution, adaptability, and opportunism. From budget hospitality to fintech, AI-powered supply chains to legal and consulting services, many startups see the ongoing tariff and trade wars not just as a threat, but also as a catalyst for innovation and regional resilience.
Several businesses, particularly those without direct ties to US supply chains, remain largely insulated from immediate disruption. Yet, broader macroeconomic effects — like weakened consumer purchasing power, rising operational costs, and tighter access to capital — are prompting businesses to rethink strategy.
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We spoke with several startup founders and experts in the region to learn how the trade wars will impact their businesses and industries.
Below are what they said to us:
Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of RedDoorz, a budget hotel network
Reddoorz is a domestic business operating in the hospitality industry and is more resilient to global shocks like tariffs. With no direct linkage to the US supply chain, we don’t see any immediate impact on our business.
If anything, we anticipate customers with reduced incomes will seek more affordable accommodation. This will help our business, as we have strong product offerings in this space.
Having said that, the industries impacted by the trade wars might lay off the workforce which will eventually reduce the purchasing power of the Indonesians.
These trade shocks might also trigger Private Equity players to take a back seat and give strategic buyers the advantage. This will again create an opportunity to accelerate our M&A activities with the support of our existing investors.
Kevin Lee, CEO (Indonesia and Malaysia) at GHL Systems/NTT Data Payment Services
For fintech firms, especially in the B2B payment space, there is still a good chance to promote their products to the US as payment is not a commodity at the moment and is still very much a tech product-driven business. When comes to payments, everyone is looking towards Southeast Asia to expand their businesses.
Izwan Zakaria, founder and Managing Partner of Izwan & Partners, a tech- and startup-focused law firm
Amid fluid tariff conflicts between the US and China, Southeast Asia is emerging as a strategic neutral zone, leveraging its balanced ties with both of these large economies. In the semiconductor sector, the region has been serving the industry as a supply chain diversification strategy in the downstream processes like assembly, testing, and packaging, attracting increased foreign investments into countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
For the fintech industry, global startups use Singapore as a domicile entity, leveraging its robust ecosystem and regulatory framework, and expanding into the broader Southeast Asian region. Additionally, regional trade agreements like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) foster a more business-friendly environment and enhance market access.
Complementing this, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) via the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) promotes cross-border policy harmonisation, making the region an ideal launchpad for fintech startups.
Charles Wong, co-founder of Cinnex, an AI-powered supply chain automation company
The escalating US tariff war will fundamentally reshape global supply chains. We’ll likely see a shift from US-centric trade to stronger regional alliances across Asia-Pacific and EU markets, with manufacturing hubs diversifying globally to mitigate tariff risks.
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This challenging environment creates significant demand for AI-powered solutions. SMEs now face critical pressure to optimise procurement processes and supplier relationships where every cost savings matter. Our technology enables seamless buyer-supplier integration, dramatically accelerating quotation responses and allowing businesses to rapidly identify optimal suppliers while maintaining competitive pricing despite market disruptions.
Cameron Priest, CEO at Pahoia, which builds, acquires, and operates businesses
It’s too early [to draw any conclusion on the impacts of the trade war on the region]. I’m talking to many of our e-commerce clients at AMP (which acquires and builds world-class tools for e-commerce entrepreneurs). There are a lot of shocks, uncertainty, and big issues with cash positions. I’m feeling frustrated since they’d be already working on moving to Thailand, Vietnam, etc., but there’s a lot of lack of clarity.
Right now, short-term supply chain financing is a big issue for many businesses as they scramble to pay tariffs. In another business, we’ve been sourcing APIs from China and are now trying to expand to Germany and India efficiently.
Rajib Saha, co-founder and CEO of Indepay, an instant payment service provider
The recent shift in tariffs emerges as a positive dimension for homegrown deeptech startups such as Indepay. As increased costs force reduced dependency on global technology, businesses will need to rely on at-par local solutions.
Indepay was created in Indonesia, for Indonesia. Our deep tech capabilities allow us the agility to customise and build scalable solutions to meet these gaps.
The EU has already hinted at parting ways with US-based payment solutions and building local alternatives instead. This trend is likely to be seen across countries and companies alike.
Agile startups can leapfrog into large businesses through the right R&D, talent, and opportunity fulfilment. A focused approach, with government support, also boosts local skill development and retains the region’s best minds.
US companies such as Apple, Amazon, and the Silicon Valley giants are testaments to the fact that products that solve market needs attract better talent and industry partnerships.
Javier Ruiz Jimenez, founder and CEO of Awarala, a Malaysian boutique consulting firm
The real impact of the trade wars will be on entire industries moving back to their home countries, now that automation reduces the importance of labour costs (e.g., semiconductor testing and packaging).
If I had to choose an industry that can thrive almost anywhere, I’d pick software. It has no major barriers, it is super low cost, almost no hard dependencies that can be taken away, and can also give rise to adjacent industries, like specialized hardware.
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Successful software companies can become powerful and valuable in negotiations—just look at TikTok. They can choose to host their servers with hyperscalers owned by different countries. Many hyperscalers have heavily invested in cloud data centres in Malaysia and rely on these software firms for returns, so they may pressure their governments to ease regulations.
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