Ep15. After the tariff shock: Bert Hofman on China-U.S. trade, global fallout, and the future of economic governance 1frw

This week on Inside the China Room, Jiang Jiang (JJ) is ed by Bert Hofman, professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School at the National University of Singapore and the former World Bank's Chief Economist of East Asia and the Pacific Region, and Country Director for China. The United States and China agreed on May 12 to drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial 90-day period, in a significant breakthrough that has de-escalated a punishing trade war and buoyed global markets. In this episode, I invite Bert to share his views on China-U.S. trade relations, the impact of the tariff rollbacks, and what it all means for the future of global supply chain and multilateral institutions. Bert is also the former director of the East Asian Institute of the National University Singapore (NUS). He is a Senior Fellow at MERICS in , nonresident senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Member of the World Association for China Studies. Before ing NUS, he worked with the World Bank for 27 years, 22 of which in Asia, and 12 of which on China. Bert's current interests include China’s future growth trajectory, technology, aging, and geopolitics and China-U.S. relations. He also runs a Substack newsletter called Bert's newsletter. Highlights: 03:21 - What surprised — and didn’t — in the China-U.S. trade deal 06:13 - Tariff "pause" and transit trade 12:53 - How the trade war reshapes global supply chain strategy 17:14 - Trade talks and how countries strategize 19:51 - The uncertain path ahead for China-U.S. trade relations 27:33 - National security is becoming a growing global priority 29:40 - The future of multilateral institutions amid U.S. retreat 39:17 - Recommendation Recommendation: Zbig: The Life and Times of Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet, by Edward Luce You can also listen to Inside the China Room with Jiang Jiang on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.gingerriver.com 56h6x