“Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, have to negotiate with the U.S. to come up with some sort of a soft-landing spot,” Ong Kian Ming, Malaysia’s former deputy minister of international trade and industry, told CNBC. “But at the same time, it doesn’t prevent us from working with other countries — not to screw the U.S., but to benefit ourselves.”

Southeast Asia is particularly vulnerable to an escalating global trade war. Goldman Sachs has cut its growth forecasts for Asian emerging markets, saying smaller export-oriented economies are the most exposed to the tariff turmoil.