Australia is positioning itself as an open market for Southeast Asian allies looking to diversify their trade as nations in the region are slapped with US tariffs.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged Australia would remain a reliable partner to Southeast Asian nations and Canberra would continue to deepen economic ties in the region as she distanced Australia from a US protectionist approach.
"We know more trade with Southeast Asia means more jobs, more investment and a stronger, more resilient Australian economy," she told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
"And in these uncertain times, and they are uncertain, strengthening Australia's relationships with more international partners, into more markets, has never been more important."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also in Malaysia for the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting.
Trade is a contentious issue between Washington and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations after further tariffs were announced on members ahead of Mr Rubio's first trip to the region.
The Republican told reporters in Malaysia that "every country in the world is going to get a letter at some point", referencing correspondence from President Donald Trump outlining higher tariffs.
"The door always remains open to adjustments, if in fact agreements can be reached and we are actively in conversations with multiple countries that are represented here on ways to make even further progress," Mr Rubio said.
Australia scored the lowest blanket tariff rate of 10 per cent when Mr Trump announced his initial sweeping levies, but it is yet to be specifically targeted in a letter.
There's also concern about what a Pentagon review of the AUKUS agreement, under which Australia would buy at least three US nuclear submarines in the 2030s, would mean and whether the president would seek to re-negotiate.
But Mr Rubio played down concerns.
"Just because you're reviewing something doesn't mean you're going to necessarily act on it," he said.
"It means you're a new administration and you want to take an audit, an account, about all the policies that you've inherited.
"But our policies on AUKUS have not changed."
Senator Wong and Mr Rubio are likely to meet in some form at the ASEAN summit, although a formal bilateral hasn't yet been pencilled in due to a recent meeting in Washington less than a fortnight before both arrived in Malaysia.
A meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi remains on the cards as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to jet to China on Saturday for a week-long trip, during which he'll meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
