President Donald Trump announced that the US has reached a new tariff agreement with Vietnam, lowering tariffs on Vietnamese exports to the US from a previously reciprocal rate of 46% to 20%. While the tech and electronics industries generally welcomed the announcement, experts say the real game-changer may lie in a lesser-discussed clause: a 40% tariff on transshipped goods. The details of its implementation—and the criteria for what qualifies as transshipment—remain unclear

With US-China tariff tensions intensifying and global manufacturers racing to decentralize their supply chains, Southeast Asia is emerging as the new strategic hub for IC distributors. Beyond the geopolitical calculus, companies are increasingly drawn to the region's potential as a high-growth cluster for automotive electronics, IC testing and packaging, and emerging tech ecosystems