- 2 days ago
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at the conclusion of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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00:00Spent more time with them. Which way am I facing? This way?
00:03This has been really good. I mean, we've had really great interactions, very positive.
00:08Everyone's been very positive and enthusiastic.
00:10Obviously, you know, the issue of trade comes up, but as I remind everybody,
00:14there's no country in the world that I can meet with right now
00:16where the issue of trade and tariffs wouldn't come up because this is a global action.
00:20So our negotiators, you know, the baseline will take effect the 1st of August,
00:25but obviously, as the President's made clear, there are opportunities for adjustments
00:28based on arrangements that could be made between now and then.
00:32But beyond that, it's been very positive.
00:34All of our engagements here have been very positive.
00:36We've been very warmly received, and everyone's excited we're here
00:39and excited about the opportunities to work together on a number of things.
00:42We'll have even a few more announcements to make
00:45about some elevation of strategic partnerships.
00:49Obviously, the memorandum of understanding we signed yesterday
00:52was very positive with the host country.
00:54They did a great job hosting this, by the way.
00:56This has been a great forum to be able to interact with a lot of different countries
01:00and hopefully take back some potential decisions that can be made
01:06that further strengthen our commitment to this part of the world.
01:09As I pointed out today on two occasions during our interventions
01:12and opportunity to speak, the United States is a Pacific nation,
01:16not just the mainland of the United States that faces the Pacific,
01:19but we have American citizens in one of our 50 states.
01:22The United States is the number one source of foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia.
01:29We're not abandoning any of that, nor are we abandoning these strong bilateral ties
01:35that we have with many of these countries, some of which go back decades and decades.
01:39In fact, today is the 30th anniversary of U.S. diplomatic relations with Vietnam,
01:45and think about how far that relationship has come.
01:47We had a very positive meeting today with the Vietnamese, as an example,
01:53and we're looking forward to building on, continuing to build on that relationship,
01:56which is both deeply symbolic, given how far our two countries have come,
02:01but also we have very exciting opportunities.
02:03We're going to be able to work together with them on, and we're excited to be able to do that.
02:06So it's been a great trip. It's been a great visit.
02:08It's exceeded all of our expectations.
02:10Mr. Secretary, you met the Chinese, your Chinese counterpart earlier today.
02:18The President has said just a couple of days ago that he enjoys good relations with China
02:23and the Chinese President.
02:26At your meeting, is that the sense you get, that you have good relations with China?
02:29It was a very constructive meeting.
02:31You know, obviously, look, we're two big, powerful countries,
02:33and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on.
02:36I think there's some areas of potential cooperation.
02:38I thought it was a very constructive, positive meeting and a lot of work to do.
02:42He's absolutely right that the President has a very good relationship with President Xi.
02:46It tracks back to his first term.
02:48And, you know, obviously, there are some issues we're going to have to work through,
02:52and that's to be expected with countries of our size and scope and influence in the world
02:56to global power such as the United States and China.
02:59But I thought it was a very constructive and positive meeting
03:02and gave us some things we can work on together.
03:04Mr. Secretary, was your message to the Foreign Minister in the meeting?
03:08Which Foreign Minister?
03:09Every meeting that I've had is with a Foreign Minister.
03:10Oh, well, look, it's very constructive.
03:12I think, as I said, the President has a very positive working relationship with President Xi,
03:18and obviously the relationship I have with a Foreign Minister should reflect that.
03:22So we acknowledged, you know, there are some issues that are going to be,
03:26we have to work through, not just beyond trade but others.
03:28But I thought it was a very constructive and positive meeting and gave us a lot to work on.
03:32So that was our message, was the opportunity here to achieve some strategic stability
03:38and identify areas where we can cooperate together on and build better communications
03:43and a working trust.
03:45What are some of those areas of cooperation?
03:47The what?
03:48What are some of those areas of cooperation?
03:49The administration hasn't spelled those out yet.
03:51Well, we're going to work through those.
03:52We don't have any announcement for you right now.
03:55But it was a very constructive meeting.
03:56I think we left it feeling as though there are some areas we're going to be able to work together on.
04:00And obviously, you know, as we work through those and we do that in conjunction with the Chinese side,
04:05we'll make public announcements.
04:07The last interaction of our trade representatives was quite positive.
04:11And, you know, we can build on that in other areas of potential cooperation.
04:16What are the odds for a meeting or the outlook for a meeting?
04:18We know President Trump has expressed interest in a meeting with President Xi this year,
04:23and President Xi has reciprocated with an invitation to China for the President and First Lady.
04:28What's the outlook or what are the odds of a meeting happening this year after this, after your initial...
04:32Yeah, no, the odds are high.
04:34I think both sides want to see it happen.
04:35Obviously, we have to build the right atmosphere and the right deliverables
04:40so that a visit isn't just a visit, but it actually has some takeaways from it that are concrete.
04:45But there's a strong desire on both sides to do it.
04:47The President wants to do it.
04:49The Chinese side wants to see it happen.
04:51President Xi said that publicly.
04:52So I think the odds are high.
04:53I don't have a date for you, but I think it's coming.
04:55It'll happen.
04:56Mr. Secretary, what do you say to those who make the argument that the U.S. tariffs
05:01or the threat of those tariffs in the region actually creates an opening for China
05:06to be seen as the stable economic partner here?
05:09I don't agree with that assessment.
05:11I mean, look, at the end of the day, the United States has built these tremendous trade imbalances
05:14over the last 30 or 40 years.
05:16It's unfair to American and American workers.
05:18In addition to threaten our industrial capacity, trade needed to be revisited.
05:23The President campaigned on that, and that's what he's doing, and he's resetting it on a global scale.
05:29At the end of the day, look, I think countries are going to trade with multiple countries.
05:32We don't view this as an opening for anyone.
05:34We don't view it that way.
05:35We view it as an opportunity to reset global trade in a way that's fair for Americans
05:40after two or three decades of unfairness.
05:43If you look at some of these trade deficits, they're massive.
05:45They're massive.
05:46That has to be addressed, and that's not sustainable at the current direction it had gone.
05:51This should have been done a long time ago.
05:52President Trump's finally done it.
05:54And I think countries understand that this was different.
05:56If this was us targeting 10 countries or 5 countries, then I would understand why countries would be upset.
06:02But the truth of the matter is we're resetting tariff levels with virtually every country in the world.
06:06And so I understand if you had a deal where you were running these huge trade deficits with the United States
06:12and exporting a lot to the U.S. and built your economy around exports
06:16but had very little import or very little economic activity coming in from the United States,
06:21I understand why you don't want that to change.
06:22But I think most mature leaders, and everybody here as a mature leader,
06:26understands that that's not a sustainable dynamic.
06:30It was one that had to be changed, and that's what the president's doing.
06:32So we're going to be okay.
06:33And in discussing trade with these counterparts in the region,
06:37did you open the aperture at all and also tell them that this is an opportunity for them
06:43to bring into the conversation or the negotiation other elements of the U.S. relationship,
06:49whether it be security elements, you know, broader than trade?
06:53Well, I think that we want to expand on all the other issues,
06:55but I think we need to bifurcate the two.
06:57Primarily the trade conversations have been about trade, and that's how the president's treated it.
07:02Now, that doesn't mean that they're, you know, the bulk of our meetings here, we're not about trade.
07:06I'm not the trade negotiator for the United States.
07:08We certainly appreciate the role that trade plays in our bilateral relationships with individual countries.
07:13But the bulk of our talks here have been about all the other things that we cooperate on,
07:18whether it's civil nuclear cooperation, whether it's, you know, respecting international law
07:23when it comes to air rights and maritime rights and freedom of navigation and things of this nature
07:29and other opportunities to work together.
07:32So that's been the bulk of our conversations, and it's been very positively received.
07:36Can I follow up on that?
07:38Mr. Secretary, Japan's prime minister said his country needs to wean itself from U.S. dependence
07:42in key areas, such as security, as Tokyo faces the prospect of tariffs.
07:47Did you discuss that in your meeting with the generals?
07:49No, we haven't.
07:50But at the end of the day, look, I don't think that that's a negative comment, per se.
07:54We obviously have very strong commitments in an alliance with Japan.
07:57We continue to cooperate very closely with them.
08:00As I speak to you now, there are active exercises going on between the United States and Japan.
08:05So our relationship with them will continue to exist.
08:08The idea that somehow Japan would be able to develop domestic capability, their own capabilities
08:14for mutual self-defense is not, not only is it not something that we find offensive,
08:18it's something we'd be supportive of, obviously within the confines of their constitutional system.
08:22But they have some limitations on what they can do.
08:25But the idea that Japan's military would become more capable is not something we would be offended by.
08:30It's something we would actually be encouraged by.
08:32So can you talk, you talked about points of possible cooperation with the Chinese.
08:38But on the points which are well known of contention, did you get a sense that there was a willingness of the Chinese to move?
08:46Or are they just...
08:47Well, I wouldn't character, look, today's meeting with our Chinese counterparts was not a negotiation on any of these matters.
08:53It is the first time that I met my counterpart in person, who, by the way, happens to also be the National Security Advisor.
08:59So he's also, he's not the archivist, though, but I suggested that perhaps he asked for that title,
09:05and that way we'd be equal, but...
09:06That's a lot bigger job than archivist.
09:09Well, they have 5,000 years of archives, too, so, you know, but I would say that it was very positive relation,
09:15a very positive interaction, and constructive is the most important part.
09:18At the end of the day, look, no matter what, the United States and China have to have relations.
09:22We have to have communication.
09:24We have to be able to interact with one another.
09:26And it's just impossible for the foreign ministers of our respective countries to not engage in conversation.
09:32So I'm glad we had that meeting today.
09:34There's a lot of work to be done.
09:35No one's saying it's easy, but we do have some opportunities on some things we might be able to work on
09:39to begin to build some momentum in our relationship.
09:43I thought it was a very good meeting.
09:44I really felt encouraged by it.
09:46But, look, there's work to be done.
09:47Secretary, if I can ask a follow-up question.
09:49You mentioned that you see high odds of a meeting between the presidents of the U.S. and China.
09:55There's a big Chinese military parade happening scheduled for September 3rd.
10:00Did the Chinese foreign minister extend an invitation to that?
10:03Was that discussed as a potential opportunity?
10:05No, we didn't discuss any specific date in mind in that regard.
10:09But the reason why I tell you there's a high probability they're going to meet is that they both want to meet.
10:13And I don't know President Xi, but I know President Trump.
10:17And, you know, I can tell you that he's committed to having that meeting happen.
10:20So the reason why I think there's high odds of it happening is they both want it to happen.
10:24So I'm sure we'll work on a date and find a mutually acceptable date for both sides.
10:30And I'm pretty confident.
10:31We want it to be a good meeting.
10:32We're going to work hard between now and whatever date that is to make sure that when that visit does happen, it's as productive as possible.
10:39We saw you today seek out the Russian foreign minister in the larger gathering.
10:44Why did you go up and talk to him?
10:46What did you guys discuss?
10:47Did you give him a response from President Trump to the conversation you had yesterday?
10:51No, it was just a follow-up on an unrelated item to our conversation yesterday.
10:55And I'll leave it at that.
10:57Mr. Secretary, many Japanese people are concerned about U.S. policy.
11:02which is demanding drastically increased defense spending.
11:07Do you have something to make?
11:09Well, I wouldn't characterize it as a demand.
11:11I mean, we've encouraged them to invest in certain capabilities.
11:15It's less to do with the amount of money and more to do about certain things they can do.
11:19At the end of the day, we are in an agreement with Japan on collective self-defense,
11:23on the ability to come to each other's aid in a time of conflict or in a time of danger.
11:28And there are certain capacities that we think they have high capability.
11:30We understand, you know, there are dynamics that constitutional and legal limit their ability
11:36to invest in certain things versus other things.
11:39But we have a very close relationship with Japan, very close.
11:43You may not know this.
11:44It's an inside joke that's now an outside joke, and I'll share with you.
11:47And that is that I believe I have met with a foreign minister of Japan more than any other foreign minister
11:52on the planet in my five and a half months in office.
11:54I think we're up to like nine or ten meetings we interact, and how we joke with each other
11:59is that we see each other more than we see our respective spouses.
12:03And so it's a very close relationship, a very historic relationship, and one that's going to continue.
12:08So, again, I think anyone who's looking for like drama or division there shouldn't be doing it
12:14because the truth of the matter is our relationship with Japan is very solid.
12:17And obviously we're both open to democratic governments, so when there are some differences of opinion,
12:22it's going to be public, not private, but I don't see that as a negative.
12:25But we have a very strong and very good relationship with Japan, and that's not going to change.
12:30Mr. Secretary, in your conversation with Foreign Minister Wang, did the subject of Taiwan come up at all,
12:34and in particular the recent military drills being held by the Taiwanese?
12:38Mr. No issue about drills. I think the Chinese position on Taiwan has been expressed.
12:45I don't think that's a mystery to anyone in terms of where they stand on it.
12:48And our position has also been expressed pretty openly.
12:52So it was not, as I said, our meeting today was not a negotiation or a back and forth on items.
12:58It was more about establishing a constructive baseline where we can continue to talk on multiple fronts,
13:04including trade, but beyond trade.
13:06Secretary, if I can ask a question about your meeting with Vietnam,
13:10a country with one of the largest trade surpluses with the U.S.,
13:13we've heard that there was maybe some misunderstanding about the agreement announced last week for a 20% tariff,
13:22that the Vietnamese weren't confident that that was fully agreed to,
13:27that perhaps they were looking for a 10% to 15% tariff.
13:30Was that an issue that they raised, trying to lower their tariff level?
13:33Was that, the tariff, an issue that they raised during the bilateral meeting?
13:37Well, the issue of trade was raised.
13:38We don't, I'm not the negotiator on trade, and neither is the foreign minister.
13:43And so we weren't here to negotiate a trade deal.
13:46I'll refer you to our trade negotiators as far as the status of that.
13:49Clearly, Vietnam feels that if they enter into an agreement with the United States,
13:54they want to have a tariff rate that's at least as good as, if not better,
13:58than other countries that don't have a trade agreement with us.
14:01But I'll leave, you know, you all have to, I have to refer you to our negotiators,
14:04because I just don't know what the status of those negotiations are at this point.
14:07On that, the president did announce that there was an agreement reached with Vietnam,
14:11and yet Vietnam is saying that they never reached that agreement.
14:13So they must have raised this issue with you today.
14:16No, I mean, that, neither of that, that issue, it just wasn't a trade meeting.
14:19We didn't, I'm not saying it's not a relevant issue.
14:22It's just not what the purpose of our meeting was about today.
14:25We talked about a lot of other issues, but perhaps the reason why it wasn't raised
14:29is because I'm not the trade negotiator, and these were not trade meetings.
14:32Mr. Secretary, can I follow up on your meeting with Lavrov yesterday?
14:36Have you had a chance to speak to the president about the ideas that were discussed in that meeting,
14:40and what did you discuss with the foreign minister this morning?
14:44Which, Lavrov?
14:46Lavrov on you, spoke to...
14:47I went to talk to him about another topic.
14:49It's not big or mysterious, it's just another topic.
14:52So it's, and I'm not going to, we'll leave it at that.
14:54And as far as, I did speak to the president last night,
14:58but I have no news to report to you on it right now.
15:00But, but like I said, I thought yesterday's meeting, I'm not, I don't want to oversell it, okay?
15:05But it was constructive, and there was some things that perhaps we can build on.
15:09Maybe not, I don't know, we'll find out.
15:11But there are some things that we will potentially explore,
15:14and I relayed that to the president and our team last night.
15:17The president says that there's going to be an announcement coming relevant or relating to Russia on Monday.
15:24Can you tell us a little bit about what his thinking is based on your conversation last night,
15:28where things currently stand?
15:29No.
15:30No, I mean, that's what Monday will be about.
15:33What about, he did say that there's a new agreement between the U.S. and NATO
15:37to get new U.S. weaponry through NATO to Ukraine,
15:42and NATO's going to fully pay for that, according to the president.
15:45Can you explain to us exactly, number one, how that's going to work,
15:49and when those weapons, as part of this agreement, will actually get to Ukraine?
15:53Well, I think what you're referring to is something that Ukraine has already offered,
15:56and so has Europe, and that is to buy weapons from the United States and then provide them to Ukraine.
16:00At the end of the day, some of the systems that Ukraine requires are systems that Europe doesn't make.
16:06They would have to purchase them from the United States.
16:08In addition to that, I would point to the fact that a number of the defensive weapons that Ukraine seeks,
16:15our allies in NATO have them.
16:18So as an example, Germany, I believe, has 13 or 14 Patriot batteries.
16:22Other countries do as well, Spain, others, and some have placed orders for that.
16:28And so we've continued to encourage our NATO allies to provide those weapons, systems,
16:34those defensive systems that Ukraine seeks, that they should provide those weapons to Ukraine
16:38since they have them in their stocks, and then we can enter into financial agreements with us
16:43where they can purchase the replacements.
16:45So these are existing systems. This is nothing new.
16:47It could be both. I mean, but at the end of the day, I mean, it's a lot faster to move something,
16:51for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a factory and get it there.
16:56So there are a couple of different ways to approach it.
16:58But the key is that there are existing capacities within existing U.S. systems within Europe right now
17:04that could be transferred to Ukraine, and then the Europeans could purchase the replacements from the United States.
17:09That's one aspect of what I think the President was referring to yesterday.
17:12Just to follow up on the Taiwan issue, did Foreign Minister Wang warn you against welcoming President Lai
17:20in a transit visit through the U.S.? Did he mention it?
17:25No, this was not a warning-type meeting.
17:27I mean, obviously, we understand their viewpoints on Taiwan.
17:30They're well-stated. They've been stated for many years.
17:35But this was not a meeting where neither side warned each other about anything.
17:41This was very constructive and productive, and I hope that that's how they reflect it as well
17:44because I thought it was a very positive meeting.
17:47Any surprises over the last two days?
17:49Surprises? No, I don't think so.
17:53We were very warmly received, I tell you.
17:55I mean, their reception has been great.
17:56No, I'm just saying that it was a very friendly environment,
18:00and I think the reiteration to the point we've made, and that is, look,
18:04I read these things about how the U.S. is not focused on the Indo-Pacific,
18:08but it's funny, everywhere I travel in the world, the headline is the U.S. is not paying enough attention,
18:13whether it's the Western Hemisphere or at NATO or even in the Middle East.
18:16I think sometimes there's a media dynamic that covers certain parts of the world more than others,
18:21but the relationships we have here have existed for a long time, a long time.
18:26When you talk about 6,000 American companies that are directly invested into economies of Southeast Asia,
18:31we're not walking away from that.
18:33We're not walking away from that.
18:34We're not walking away from our defense ties that we have in the region.
18:38We're not walking away from the strong economic ties we have in the region.
18:41On the country, we want to build on them.
18:43Just yesterday, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia on civil nuclear cooperation.
18:51I believe either last night or early this morning, our arrangement on another civil nuclear program with Thailand came into effect.
19:01So we have a lot of positive things going on, and we're going to continue to build on those.
19:05We're excited about them, and we're not going to walk away from them.
19:07Mr. Secretary, while you were in Malaysia, the Trump administration announced a new nomination to be ambassador of Malaysia.
19:15Nick Adams, he's sort of well-known on X as a sort of social media personality and does a lot of other things.
19:22I was wondering what you could say about his nomination, why Mr. Adams was the right person for this pretty important position at the Indo-Pacific.
19:29Yeah, the president makes those nominations.
19:32I support the nomination.
19:33He went through our process at the presidential personnel office.
19:37We look forward to the Senate confirming him so he can get here and be a part of our team.
19:42Can I ask a step-back question on the trade strategy?
19:44You've talked many times now about how decades of trade policy have led to the deindustrialization of the U.S.,
19:50and so obviously you and other agents are trying to bring manufacturing or other industrial processes back to the U.S.,
19:57but you haven't really given us a vision of what exactly that entails.
20:00What kinds of jobs are supposed to be coming back to the U.S.?
20:03Howard Lutton, they talked about people screwing tiny things into iPhones, which people mocked after you set that line.
20:09So what about you?
20:11What vision of industrialization do you see?
20:13Well, there are certain capacities countries have to be able to have.
20:16So, for example, I'm just using these as examples, the ability to build a ship.
20:20Right now, you know, we go around the world and people say, well, you know, we bought 200 Boeing jets.
20:25Well, Boeing has to be able to make them.
20:27And frankly, we have huge backlogs on that.
20:30So you talk about pharmaceuticals as an example.
20:33You talk about national security.
20:34We've lost our ability to make pharmaceuticals in the United States and become heavily dependent on foreign supply chains for the active ingredients that are necessary for pharmaceuticals.
20:43So I can go on and on, but I mean, the capability of making things has a national security component to it, not just a jobs component to it.
20:52They're both important.
20:53So I would look to those as examples of things that the U.S., because of certain decisions that were made by previous policymakers,
21:00we've seen some of these core industrial capabilities that are necessary not just for economic stability but for national security leave the United States.
21:10I would also argue that in addition to our domestic manufacturing capability, I think we and others should be deeply concerned about certain supply chain vulnerabilities
21:21and over-reliance on one part of the world versus anywhere else.
21:24I don't think it's healthy for the United States or for the global economy to be so heavily dependent, as an example, on China or any other country, for that matter,
21:33where all of the industrial or manufacturing capacity or supplies and the supply chain of a key element is all derived in one place.
21:41So as I'm sure you've seen the announcement yesterday where the Department of Defense has entered, has taken an equity stake in a company that will be able to process rare earths.
21:50One thing is to have access to raw material.
21:52The other thing is to be able to process that raw material into something that's usable for everything from high technology to anything that has a motor in it.
22:02So I think we, at a minimum, have to diversify supply chains and secure them.
22:06Some of that will be domestic.
22:08Others will be in allied nation states.
22:10But these are core components of the kinds of things we need to be focused on.
22:14And it's not just the deindustrialization of America.
22:17It's the loss of these key components and the concentration of those in one or two countries around the world that leave not just us,
22:27but many countries vulnerable.
22:29That's just not a sustainable or acceptable situation to find ourselves in.
22:34Thank you, everybody.
22:35All right, guys.