Opinion | Why tariffs aren’t the biggest factor holding back US-Asean trade

If you’re an American company trying to operate in countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – the fourth-largest trading partner of the US, with more than US$500 billion in annual two-way trade – tariffs are usually just a line item. You price them in.

What you cannot easily price in are shifting regulations, customs procedures, duplicative approvals and opaque licensing systems. These don’t grab headlines. They just kill deals.