US politics live: Rubio says Asia might get ‘better' tariffs than others
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed that Asian nations might get 'better' tariff rates than the rest of the world, as he attended ASEAN talks focused on Washington's trade war.
Mr Rubio's visit to Malaysia came after US President Donald Trump threatened this week to impose punitive tariffs on more than 20 countries if they did not strike deals with Washington by August 1.
'I would say that when all is said and done, many of the countries in Southeast Asia are going to have tariff rates that are actually better than countries in other parts of the world,' Rubio said Thursday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
'But these talks continue. There'll be talks next week with Japan. There's ongoing talks with virtually every country represented here.'
His remarks came after it was revealed that more than 2000 employees at America's famed space agency are set to be slashed, according to leaked documents, Politico reports.
The outlet said that 2145 senior staffers at NASA were set to leave under broader Trump administration plans to trim the federal workforce.
One NASA employee, who is departing the agency, told the outlet that the large amount of people leaving their office would have a 'very significant' impact on operations.
'It's leaving us with a lot of experience drain,' he said.
'Things just sound like it's going to get worse.'
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