The article summarizes the results of a comparative analysis of the trade and investment relations of ASEAN countries with the PRC and the USA. These relationsare considered as a factor significantly affecting the current state and especially on the prospects for relations of ASEAN countries with both countries fighting for influence in Southeast Asia as a whole. The versatility and inconsistency of the economic ties of the ASEAN countries with China and the United States is emphasized, which putting them to a difficult choice when pursuing a foreign economic course, an essential element of which is the desire to balance contacts with China and the United Stateswith the maximum possible consideration of their own economic interests.