ASEAN officials to travel to Washington for trade tariff talks, Malaysian PM says

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said his country and Association of Southeast Asian Nations partners will dispatch officials to Washington for talks following President Donald Trump’s rollout of global tariffs.

“There may be limited room to revisit the underlying intent, but there is still scope for adjusting the policy’s implementation,” Anwar said in his opening speech at the Asean Investment Conference 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

He added: “The global trading system is under intense strain, more so than at any point in recent memory.”

Anwar said over the weekend that Malaysia will lead efforts to coordinate a regional response by Southeast Asia toward US tariffs. Malaysia is the current chair of the Asean group of 10 Southeast Asian countries, which are among the hardest hit by the levies.

Southeast Asian countries must pursue more regional economic integration and boost trade, Anwar said.

“We are witnessing the fraying of the global order,” Anwar said. “Therefore, Asean must rely more on itself.”

​On April 2, President Donald Trump introduced a series of "reciprocal tariffs" aimed at addressing perceived trade imbalances between the United States and its trading partners. These tariffs include a baseline 10% duty on all imports, with higher rates for specific countries based on factors such as existing tariffs, trade deficits, and other trade barriers. ​

By Khagan Isayev