AS 2025 draws to a close, one cannot help but notice that the friendship between China and Malaysia has become a rare beacon of stability in an increasingly volatile world.

Now, as the second Trump administration signals a renewed reliance on tariff-driven pressure, the lessons from the first US–China trade war have once again returned to the centre of global discussion. For nearly half a decade, that earlier trade war unfolded like a costly and self-defeating drama, with neither side emerging unscathed. Commentators such as The Economist's Robert Guest once argued that "China is winning," but such a conclusion overlooks a more fundamental truth: in a global economy woven together by supply chains, technological collaboration, and shared markets, trade wars do not produce victors—only casualties.