Kuala Lampur, Sept. 17 -- Economic nationalism is back with a vengeance. The Trump administration's tariff regime has shown how quickly the rules of global commerce can be rewritten in Washington. Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, and Aseanall feel the pressure of unilateral protectionism that undermines the open trading system painstakingly built over decades.

Yet the answer is not a tit-for-tat escalation. It lies instead in strengthening multilateral arrangements like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), where inclusivity and scale are powerful antidotes to isolationism.

Europe's Bind with China

The European Union cannot pretend to be insulated from China. Supply chains are deeply entangled: German automakers dep...