Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has warned of global trade being weaponised against weaker countries, as Southeast Asian ministers gather for a summit against the backdrop of United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Speaking at the opening of the annual meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on Wednesday, Anwar said that while power had always shaped trade, it was today increasingly defining it.
“Across the world, tools once used to generate growth are now wielded to pressure, isolate and contain. Tariffs, export restrictions, and investment barriers have now become the sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry,” Anwar said, without explicitly naming Trump.
“This is no passing storm. It is the new weather of our time.”
Anwar made his comments as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was en route to Malaysia for his first visit to Asia as Washington’s top diplomat.
During his visit, Rubio is scheduled to attend several ASEAN events, including the East Asia Summit forum, which also includes non-ASEAN countries such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
While US officials have cast Rubio’s trip as a chance to stress Washington’s commitment to “a free, open, and secure” Asia Pacific in the face of China’s growing influence, his engagements with regional officials are likely to focus heavily on trade.
Malaysia is among six Southeast Asian countries facing steep tariffs unless they can reach trade agreements with the Trump administration by a deadline of August 1.
Under Trump’s latest tariff plans, which extended a 90-day reprieve that was due to expire on Wednesday, exports from 14 countries – including ASEAN’s Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar – would be subject to duties of 25-40 percent.
Vietnam is the only country in the bloc so far to have sealed a trade deal with Trump.
Calling on the region to confront the reality of the global landscape with “clarity and conviction”, Anwar said ASEAN must coordinate more closely on foreign and economic policy.
“And as we navigate external pressures, we need to fortify our internal foundations. Trade more among ourselves, invest more in one another, and advance integration across sectors with resolve,” Anwar said.
“To build a stronger, more connected ASEAN economy is a strategic imperative that will anchor our relevance and resilience for decades to come.”
Southeast Asian countries must also “reject the idea that the world can be carved into spheres of influence” or that decisions affecting the region can be made elsewhere, Anwar said.
“We are a region that charts its own course deliberately, coherently, and with purpose. ASEAN will not be spoken for in absentia,” he said.
