Rubio Heads to Malaysia for Summit Under Shadow of Tariffs
Rubio flies to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday for a gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While he'd prefer to keep the focus on security issues and competition with China, the trip will take place under the shadow of Trump's latest tariff gambit.
On Monday, the president unveiled the first of several promised letters that threaten higher tariffs rates on key trading partners, including levies of 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea — as well as Malaysia and Kazakhstan — beginning Aug. 1. Fellow Asean members Laos and Myanmar will see tariffs of 40% if Trump delivers on his threat.
Trump had set July 9 for the expiration of a 90-day pause on higher trade levies. He initially rolled out reciprocal tariffs in early April, but the White House reversed course, froze those rates at 10% for three months, and opened negotiations amid tumbling markets and fears of a US recession.
A senior State Department official told reporters Monday that the July 9 deadline will pass while Rubio is traveling to Malaysia, and said the department doesn't lead negotiations for bilateral deals. Still, the secretary will echo the White House's message on tariffs, the official said, defending the need to rebalance US trade relationships.
Former trade negotiator Barbara Weisel said partners would focus on the meetings' formal agenda and separate their broader relationship from trade tensions.
'But privately, countries that are hit with tariffs over 10% almost certainly will raise their frustration and anger at the US,' said Weisel, now a scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Rubio 'is focused on reaffirming the United States' commitment to advancing a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region,' the State Department said in a statement before the latest tariffs were announced.
Rubio will also likely face questions about Trump's threat Sunday to impose an additional 10% tariff on any country that aligns itself with what he called the 'anti-American policies' of the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Indonesia became a full BRICS member in January, while Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand joined as partner nations.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected at the Asean summit, as is Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is confirmed. President Vladimir Putin's government, entrenched in the war in Ukraine, is deepening ties in Southeast Asia through energy and defense deals.
For weeks, the administration has indicated its tariffs would revert to their higher April 2 levels for countries that failed to strike accords aimed at reducing US trade imbalances. Other nations will seek to follow the example of Asean member Vietnam, which last week reached a deal for a 20% tariff on its exports — compared with a 46% duty originally threatened — though goods deemed to be transshipped face a 40% rate — a provision largely aimed at China.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested that some countries lacking an agreement by the July 9 deadline would be able to negotiate until the tariffs are scheduled to kick in on Aug. 1. While the job of negotiating trade deals falls mainly to Bessent and others, Rubio is one of the first Trump cabinet members to travel to Asia.
(Updates with additional details of visit, Trump's Brics threat.)
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