Can you explain how you think about this and what you mean by the three kingdoms?

Sure.

Thank you, Nick.

Yes, I wrote this paper on the three digital kingdoms eight years ago based on the different approaches, the three digital powers, the US, China, and EU regarding various issues such as data, such as digital, such as AI, and so on.

So my basic thesis is that if you look at these three countries, they each represent a distinct model.

The US, I would call it the firm-based model.

Basically, the US prefers the commercial interests of the firm.

What are the significant parts of that for a multinational organization that needs to move data around the world?

So do you wanna step that out for us? Hmm.

Sure, Peter.

So I guess the biggest news in the trade world for the past year or so is the Liberation Day tariffs, right, which, uh, uh, President Trump announced on Liberation Day, April 2nd, 2025.

It basically shocked the world because the world has never seen the US basically, um, jacking up its tariff all the way to up to 50%, right, uh, for some countries and, um, uh, increasing tariffs for everybody else, uh, you know, from the, uh, original baseline tariff of a average of 3.4% to now a minimum of, uh, 10%, which is the one Singapore is getting.

But some of, uh, Singapore's neighbors are not that lucky.

You know, you, uh, if you look around, you see Vietnam getting 46%, Cambodia getting 49%.

So I, I know that a lot of people in the trade circle are very unhappy because of this, but I have been having a, a very different view, and some might even say a kind of a blasphemous view on these issues, uh, since Liberation Day.

But what, what do you think about that?