When Adam, an analyst at a major trading holding in Singapore, turned on the news on the morning of July 8, 2025, he could hardly believe what he heard. The US had announced it sent letters to 14 countries warning about new tariffs. The office fell silent — this could change the rules of global trade. The White House called it the 'Liberation Day tariffs' initiative. For the first time in a decade, the US openly signaled a revision not only of trade deals but of the concept of economic partnership. Adam knew Asia would be hit. The letter recipients included his native South Korea, neighbors like Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia. Even Japan, despite its strategic ties to the US. Meanwhile in Washington, Allison, a young State Department official, hadn’t left her office in three days. Her job was to track every diplomatic call, every attempt by partners to talk the US down from tariffs. She saw how the UK and Vietnam struck deals — and sighed in relief. Others remained in limbo. Markets shifted: the S&P 500 dipped, Asian ETFs climbed, oil fell. Adam understood this wasn’t just a sanction — it was a tectonic shift. Companies were already adjusting logistics, re-routing supply chains. At 3:27 a.m., Allison shut her laptop in exhaustion. Diplomats had until August 1. A world where the US announces tariffs through letters, not press releases, had arrived. Adam, meanwhile, was booking a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, sensing Vietnam might become the next trade hub. 'In this game, whoever adapts fastest, wins,' he thought.