ASEANEWS-46th ASEAN SUMMIT | “Inclusivity and Sustainability” -ECONOMY | KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN seeks to approach US tariff talks as one and expand China ties
Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono (fourth right) and other representatives of ASEAN member states, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and China pose for a group photo at the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit after the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. (AFP/Jam Sta Rosa)
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ASEAN summit in Malaysia: United against Trump tariffs? | DW News
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The 10 ASEAN member states pledge to stay united but flexible as the regional bloc looks for new partners and ways to tackle trade headwinds caused by the United States’ threat of sweeping import tariffs.
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A SEAN member states aim to negotiate with the United States as a single trade bloc while deepening ties with China, as Washington’s unilateral levies imperil the growth of their trade-dependent economies.
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Kicking off the 46th ASEAN Summit at Kuala Lumpur’s Convention Center on Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the regional bloc sought a unified meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss the US import tariffs.
ASEAN has the “fortitude and staying power” to “weather the storms” of economic uncertainty swirling in the region, said Anwar, who holds ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship this year.
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“When we encountered this problem with the [US] tariffs, we said, ‘Proceed with bilateral meetings, but retain the ASEAN consensus’,” Anwar continued, noting that all member states tacitly approved of that approach.
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Anwar said he had written to Trump to request talks between the US and ASEAN, a region home to 680 million people with a combined GDP of US$3.8 trillion.
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Marcos backs ASEAN non-retaliatory stand on tariffs
President Marcos joins other Southeast Asian leaders at the 46th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday./ Photos courtesy of PCO
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ASEAN kicks off summits with China, Gulf states amid US tariff threat
The 10-member regional bloc holds its first-ever three-way summit with China and the GCC as part of a bid to bolster economic resilience.
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ASEAN summit opens in Malaysia with call for unity against US tariff threat
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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim opened the ASEAN Summit by urging regional unity against US tariff threats, praising the bloc’s resilience amid global challenges. China’s Premier Li Qiang reinforced trade ties with Indonesia en route, signalling Beijing’s deepening Asian engagement. Analysts highlighted ASEAN’s strategic gains from Middle Eastern partnerships, while Malaysia condemned Israel’s Gaza war as a failure of international law. The Gulf Cooperation Council joined trade talks, though Palestine dominated moral discussions. Myanmar’s crisis loomed large, with Malaysia seeking to leverage its ASEAN chairmanship to extend post-earthquake ceasefire efforts amid civil war. Delegates grappled with balancing economic pragmatism with humanitarian imperatives. Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reports from Kuala Lumpur.
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ASEAN summit opens in Malaysia with call for unity against US tariff threats.Southeast Asian leaders are holding their first ever summit with China and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as they seek to insulate their trade-dependent economies from the effect of steep tariffs from the United States.
The meeting, in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, took place on Tuesday, on the second day of the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The meeting followed separate talks between leaders of the ASEAN and the GCC, which comprises of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, opening the ASEAN-GCC summit, said stronger ties between the two blocs would be key to enhancing collaboration, building resilience and securing sustainable prosperity.
“I believe the ASEAN-GCC partnership has never been more important than it is today, as we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape marked by economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges,” Anwar said.
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In written remarks before the meetings, the prime minister had said that “a transition in the geopolitical order is underway” and that “the global trading system is under further strain, with the recent imposition of US unilateral tariffs.”
With protectionism surging, the world is also bearing witness to “multilateralism breaking apart at the seams”, he added.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Anwar added that Southeast Asian leaders reached an understanding that any bilateral agreements they may strike with the US on trade tariffs would not harm each others’ economies.
“While proceeding with bilateral negotiations … the consensus rose to have some sort of understanding with ASEAN that decisions should not be at the expense of any other country,” Anwar told reporters.
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“So we will have to protect the turf of 650 or 660 million people,” he said of ASEAN.
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Trump’s tariffs top agenda at ASEAN summit in Malaysia
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China calls for stronger ties
China’s Premier Li Qiang, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, joined ASEAN and the GCC for their first meeting on Tuesday. He met with Anwar on Monday and called for expanded trade and investment ties between Beijing, ASEAN and the GCC.
“At a time when unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and world economic growth is sluggish,” Li said, China, ASEAN and GCC countries “should strengthen coordination and cooperation and jointly uphold open regionalism and true multilateralism”.
China is willing to work with Malaysia to “promote closer economic cooperation among the three parties” and respond to global challenges, Li told Anwar.
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ASEAN has maintained a policy of neutrality, engaging both Beijing and Washington, but US President Donald Trump’s threats of sweeping tariffs came as a blow.
Six of the bloc’s members were among the worst hit, with tariffs between 32 percent and 49 percent.
Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs in April for most of the world, and this month struck a similar deal with key rival China, easing trade war tensions.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said ASEAN members are “very much looking at building ties with other parts of the world, in particular China, but also the Middle East” to strengthen their economic resilience.
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“A measure of the importance that the GCC is also placing on this meeting is the delegation that has been sent here and the seniority of its members,” he added. “The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is here, and we have crown princes from Kuwait and also Bahrain. We also have a deputy prime minister from Oman.”
Anwar said Monday he had also written to Trump to request an ASEAN-US summit this year, showing “we observe seriously the spirit of centrality.” However, his Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Washington had not yet responded.
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‘Timely, calculated’
ASEAN has traditionally served as “a middleman of sorts” between developed economies like the US and China, said Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“Given the uncertainty and unpredictability associated with economic relations with the United States, ASEAN member states are looking to diversify,” he told the AFP news agency.
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“Facilitating exchanges between the Gulf and People’s Republic of China is one aspect of this diversification.”
Malaysia, which opened the bloc’s 46th summit on Monday, is the main force behind the initiative, he said.
China, which has suffered the brunt of Trump’s tariffs, is also looking to shore up its other markets.
Premier Li’s participation is “both timely and calculated”, Khoo Ying Hooi from the University of Malaya told AFP.
“China sees an opportunity here to reinforce its image as a reliable economic partner, especially in the face of Western decoupling efforts.”
Beijing and Washington engaged in an escalating flurry of tit-for-tat levies until a meeting in Switzerland saw an agreement to slash them for 90 days.
Chinese goods still face higher tariffs than most, though.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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