Facing US tariffs, Asean unity helps – but nations still need solo hustle

A seemingly minor semantic distinction recently highlighted the complex reality Asean faces in how it deals with the erraticity of US President Donald Trump, and indeed all the major powers.

When Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current Asean chair, said at a conference on April 8 that “we will be dispatching some of our officials to Washington”

to begin dialogue on Mr Trump’s sweeping tariffs

, some media outlets quickly interpreted this as an Asean action – that the officials he was talking about were to speak on behalf of the 10-state grouping as a whole.