ASEAN Seeks Tariff Antidote With Closer Ties to Gulf Nations, China

TaiwanPlus News

Faced with the threat of U.S. tariffs, the ASEAN bloc of Southeast Asian nations is looking for closer trade partnerships with Persian Gulf countries and China.

Transcript

00:00A who's who of world leaders and diplomats takes to this stage in Kuala Lumpur,

00:06opening a summit that could have a big impact amid a looming global trade war.

00:11This is a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN,

00:15but there are important guests.

00:17The six members of the Middle Eastern Bloc, the Gulf Cooperation Council,

00:20all have representatives here.

00:22And China is here too, represented by Premier Li Qiang.

00:26Host and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim greets him personally.

00:31Though other topics like the civil war in Myanmar are on the agenda at this three-way meeting,

00:35the shadow of U.S. tariffs is hard to avoid.

00:38As Ibrahim says, trade with the U.S. remains important,

00:41but it's also important to make sure ASEAN countries stand firm

00:45and stick to the Bloc's interests as a whole in talks with the Trump administration.

00:49On tariff, for example, while proceeding with bilateral negotiations,

00:56the Afro was there in the States,

00:58but the consensus was to have some sort of understanding of Masa ASEAN

01:04that decisions should not be at the expense of any other country.

01:08So we will have to protect the turf of 650 or 660 million people.

01:13Building closer economic links with the Middle East and China

01:17is one way the Bloc hopes to manage the risks of trade conflict and economic uncertainty.

01:22Leaders like the Crown Prince of Kuwait see a lot of mutually beneficial potential.

01:26In the economic and investment fields,

01:31we are pleased to be the seventh-largest ASEAN trading partner in 2023,

01:35with a total of $130.7 billion U.S. dollars,

01:39and we expect to see an average 30% growth in trade to reach $180 billion by 2023.

01:46The amount of opportunities that can be invested on both sides is huge.

01:51What has been achieved so far confirms that we are on the right track.

01:53China used the occasion to voice its backing for the removal of trade barriers.

01:59As the only country the Trump administration hasn't paused tariffs on,

02:02it faces the most immediate challenges.

02:05But it also sees promise in closer trade ties elsewhere,

02:08both with its Southeast Asian neighbors and Arab states further afield.

02:12Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim says the countries here today have 2.15 billion people

02:18between them and a GDP of nearly $25 trillion U.S. dollars.

02:36Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim says the countries here today have 2.15 billion people between them

02:42and a GDP of nearly $25 trillion U.S. dollars.

02:46The hope at this summit is that however U.S. tariff policy swings,

02:50this collective bulk will make it so no one country is left totally exposed.

02:55Fu Hua Hong and John Vintriest for Taiwan Plus.

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