Blooomberg
The Americans aren’t attending this week’s summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Malaysia, but President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs are all anyone is talking about.
For weeks, Asean leaders have been stressing the need to fortify trade among themselves and worldwide as they seek to mitigate the impact of some of the steepest US levies announced. With high-level delegations from China and the Gulf region present, there’s no better opportunity to present a united front.
At stake is a 10-nation regional economy spanning Laos to Indonesia that was projected to grow by more than 5% per year on its way to becoming the world’s fourth largest by 2030. Whether they can get there without their biggest export market in the US is the question keeping economic officials up at night.
Counterparts in Europe and Japan are facing a similar dilemma, with Trump imposing and then delaying 50% tariffs on the European Union, while Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seeks to tempt Trump with offers to repair US warships to try and cut a deal by next month’s Group of Seven summit.
French President Emmanuel Macron is meanwhile in Vietnam vowing closer defense and energy ties as part his own tour of southeast Asia aimed at shoring up ties, a further indication of the shaking up of international alliances in response to Trump’s disruption.
Negotiators from Asean countries hope to strike a deal to avert proposed tariff hikes ranging from 10% to 49%. They’ve also engaged in a spate of intra-regional visits in recent weeks to facilitate business closer to home.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim used his opening remarks today to call out Trump, saying his tariffs are putting strain on the world’s trading system.
Any notion that this month’s US deal with China would minimize the global trade conflict looks wide of the mark. — Philip Heijmans