Rubio makes first visit to Asia as Trump tariffs loom

KUALA LUMPUR – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet his South-east Asian counterparts on July 10 in

his first visit to Asia since taking office

, and will try to reassure them that the region is a priority for Washington, even as President Donald Trump targets it in his global tariff offensive.

Washington’s top diplomat will meet in Kuala Lumpur member countries of the Asean bloc, whose ministers are gathering there this week, as well as senior Malaysian government officials, the State Department said. He will also take part in broader meetings involving Asean and its partners.

The trip is part of an effort to renew US focus on the Indo-Pacific and look beyond the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration’s attention, with Mr Rubio balancing dual responsibilities as secretary of state and national security adviser.

However, Mr Trump’s global tariff strategy is likely to cast a shadow over the trip, after the President announced steep tariffs to take effect on Aug 1 on six Asean members, including Malaysia, as well as on close North-east Asian allies Japan and South Korea.

Mr Rubio will nevertheless seek to firm up US relationships with partners and allies, who have been unnerved by the tariffs, and is likely to press the case that the United States remains a better partner than China, Washington’s main strategic rival, experts said.

“This is significant, and it’s an effort to try to counter that Chinese diplomatic and economic offensive,” said Dr Victor Cha, president of the geopolitics and foreign policy department at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are also expected to join from July 10, but it was unclear if Mr Rubio would meet either.

A senior State Department official told reporters on July 7 that among Mr Rubio’s priorities on the trip was reaffirming Washington’s commitment to the region, not just for its sake but also because it promotes American prosperity and security.

“It’s kind of late, because we’re seven months into the administration,” Dr Cha said of Mr Rubio’s trip. “Usually, these happen much sooner. But then again, (these are) extraordinary circumstances. But I guess better late than never.”

Security cooperation is a top priority, including the strategic South China Sea, and combating transnational crime, narcotics, scam centres and trafficking in persons, said the State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

As well as their unease about Mr Trump’s tariff policies, many in the Indo-Pacific have doubts about the willingness of his “America First” administration to fully engage diplomatically and economically with the region.

Mr Trump said this week he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on Japan and South Korea and also took aim at Asean nations, announcing a 25 per cent duty on Malaysia, 32 per cent on Indonesia, 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand, and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. 

Mr Trump has also upset another key Indo-Pacific ally, Australia, which said on July 9 it was “urgently seeking more detail” on his threat to raise tariffs to 200 per cent on pharmaceutical imports. 

According to a draft joint communique seen by Reuters, Asean foreign ministers will express “concern over rising global trade tensions and growing uncertainties in the international economic landscape, particularly the unilateral actions relating to tariffs”.

The draft, dated July 7, before the latest US tariff rates were announced, did not mention the US and used language similar to an Asean leaders’ statement in May. Both said tariffs were “counterproductive and risk exacerbating global economic fragmentation”.        

The State Department official said Mr Rubio would be prepared to discuss trade and reiterate that the need to rebalance US trade relationships is significant.

Export-reliant Asean is collectively the world’s fifth-biggest economy, with some members the beneficiaries of supply chain realignments from China. Only Vietnam has secured a deal with Mr Trump, which lowers the levy to 20 per cent from 46 per cent initially. REUTERS