News / Trump tariffs could boost Chinese influence in South-east Asian rail network

© Christopher Rawlins

The Chinese government’s aim to develop Asian rail networks could be aided by president-elect Trump’s tariff policy, “running counter to the US’s strategic aims”, according to the founder of Transport Intelligence (Ti), John Manners-Bell.  

He said the Chinese government had been “re-focusing its trade strategy for over a decade”, and one of the ways it aimed to increase its influence across the world was “by way of the Belt & Road Initiative”. 

He noted that while the priority of the governments ...