{"id":77025,"date":"2025-07-09T15:09:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/09\/trumps-tariffs-may-overshadow-rubios-first-official-trip-to-asia\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:33:34","slug":"trumps-tariffs-may-overshadow-rubios-first-official-trip-to-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/07\/09\/trumps-tariffs-may-overshadow-rubios-first-official-trip-to-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s tariffs may overshadow Rubio\u2019s first official trip to Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sweeping tariffs set to be imposed by President Donald Trump next month may overshadow his top diplomat\u2019s first official trip to Asia this week \u2014 just as the U.S. seeks to boost relations with Indo-Pacific nations to counter China\u2019s growing influence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump on Monday sent notice to several countries about higher tariffs if they don\u2019t make trade deals with the U.S., including to a number of Asian countries. The move came just a day before Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed for a Southeast Asian regional security conference in Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top diplomats and senior officials from at least eight countries that Trump has targeted for the new tariffs, which would go into effect on Aug. 1, will be represented at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur that Rubio will attend on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Department officials say tariffs and trade will not be Rubio\u2019s focus during the meetings, which Trump\u2019s Republican administration hopes will prioritize maritime safety and security in the South China Sea, where China has become increasingly aggressive toward its small neighbors, as well as combating transnational crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Rubio may be hard-pressed to avoid the tariff issue that has vexed some of America\u2019s closest allies and partners in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, which Trump says would face 25% tariffs absent a deal. Neither of those countries is a member of ASEAN, but both will be represented at the meetings in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio\u2019s \u201ctalking points on the China threat will not resonate with officials whose industries are being battered by 30-40% tariffs,\u201d said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, when Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last week said ASEAN will approach challenges \u2018as a united bloc\u2019 \u2014 he wasn\u2019t talking about Chinese coercion but about U.S. tariffs,\u201d Russel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among ASEAN states, Trump has so far announced up to 40% tariffs on at least six of the 10 members of the bloc, including the meeting host Malaysia, which would face a 25% tariff mainly on electronics and electrical product imports to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southeast Asian countries not yet targeted by the U.S. include Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, which recently agreed to a trade deal with Trump. The Trump administration has courted most Southeast Asian nations in a bid to blunt or at least temper China\u2019s push to dominate the region.<\/p>\n\n\n