This was no banner year for Asia. Growth was sluggish and inflation sufficiently low to allow for interest rate cuts. But some of the reductions were grudging — often designed more to put a floor under expansions that struggled.
The sense of crisis that followed the imposition of U.S. tariffs in April has abated. Leaders were able to negotiate duties down to levels that are uncomfortable without being catastrophic. What’s left is hard work and a need for officials to pick when to juice their economies and by how much. The real hit — if there is to be one — from the barriers erected by the White House will only be truly felt in 2026.
If predictions are hazardous at the best of times, they are more fraught today. Here are some lessons and developments to watch.