Southeast Asian leaders to meet as Trump visit highlights trade disruption

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Southeast Asian leaders are preparing to hold their flagship annual summit as US President Donald Trump embarks on an Asia Pacific trip that will focus attention on his upending of trade and traditional alliances. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are gathering in Manila, the Philippines, for a series of multilateral and bilateral meetings running from Sunday until Tuesday.

It will also be the first time that Trump, Xi and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will meet for trilateral talks, the White House has confirmed . Trump’s administration announced the duties of between 10 and 12.5 percent after the US Supreme Court struck down his steeper “reciprocal” tariffs in February.

The Office of the US Trade Representative said it was imposing the tariffs on 60 trade partners over their alleged failure to clamp down on forced labour. The Trump administration is also conducting trade probes over alleged national security and “excess” manufacturing concerns that could result in yet more tariffs for Southeast Asian trade partners.