Trump, who won a resounding victory on Tuesday, has threatened 60% tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from China, much higher than the levies of 7.5% to 25% he imposed in his first term, a major risk for the world's second-largest economy.

Southeast Asian leaders are adept at dealing with President-elect Trump’s transactional style of diplomacy, but an escalating U.S.-China conflict would severely harm the region.

Asia is bracing for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, after he threatened on the campaign trail to inflict sweeping tariffs on China and questioned Washington’s security commitments to Taiwan and US allies South Korea and Japan.