Southeast Asian nations kicked off a two-day series of meetings on Monday aimed at diversifying trade partners and strengthening regional cooperation. The summit, which will later include China and the Arab Gulf states, comes as countries look to lessen the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariffs.
Monday's meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur zeroed in on the tariffs, with this year's chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, saying he had written to Trump seeking a U.S.-ASEAN meeting on the topic. His remarks came a day after Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said that Washington had yet to reply to the invitation.
“A transition in the geopolitical order is under way and the global trading system is under further strain with the recent imposition of U.S. unilateral tariffs,” Anwar said in an opening speech.
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