Trump departs ASEAN with lingering questions for Southeast Asia’s trade

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – United States President Donald Trump has travel and gone from a gathering of Southeast Asia’s leaders, but galore questions stay astir however the portion volition fare nether his ever-shifting commercialized policies.

Trump flew into Malaysia connected Monday to be the 47th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), wherever his marquee lawsuit was overseeing the signing of a ceasefire statement betwixt Thailand and Cambodia.

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On the sidelines of the acme successful Kuala Lumpur, helium besides met with ASEAN’s leaders to sermon US tariff rates, which scope from 10 percent for Singapore to 40 percent for Myanmar and Laos.

In the flurry of activity, the White House announced reciprocal commercialized deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, and model agreements – the outlines of aboriginal commercialized deals – with Thailand and Vietnam.

While Malaysia received tariff exemptions connected immoderate of its cardinal exports successful its commercialized agreement, Trump’s latest circular of deal-making near galore larger questions unanswered.

Still to beryllium determined is whether Trump volition travel done connected his threats to enforce a 100 percent tariff connected semiconductors and a 40 percent tariff connected “transshipments” – referring chiefly to Chinese exports routed done 3rd countries to debar pre-existing tariffs.

It is besides unclear however the US mightiness specify the “country of origin” of goods that transverse borders dozens of times earlier they are finished, if Trump does proceed with measures targeting transshipments.

None of the agreements signed connected Sunday mentioned semiconductors – a cardinal export for Malaysia – oregon specified country-of-origin rules, contempt the menace that a broadly-applied tariff connected goods with aggregate countries of root would airs to Southeast Asia’s highly integrated proviso chains.

There were besides nary announcements connected commercialized negotiations involving immoderate of the region’s biggest economies, including Indonesia and the Philippines.

Under the deals with Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, each 4 countries agreed to the aforesaid US tariff rates antecedently announced by the White House – 19 oregon 20 percent – portion making a fig of concessions.

Those see commitments by each 4 countries to trim non-tariff barriers to US trade, with Cambodia and Thailand pledging to destruct tariffs connected 100 percent and 99 percent of US imports, respectively.

Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam besides agreed to bargain billions of dollars’ worthy of US cultivation exports, US-made aircraft, and connection concessions connected integer services, portion Kuala Lumpur pledged a further $70bn successful superior concern successful the US.

Thailand and Malaysia signed abstracted memorandums of statement to cooperate connected proviso chains of uncommon earths and different captious minerals, specified arsenic nickel and cobalt, portion facilitating much US investment.

While the presumption of the agreements look to mostly payment the US, they bash connection immoderate concessions to the region.

Malaysia’s agreement, the astir broad of the deals reached astatine the summit, stipulates a zero percent tariff connected immoderate of its cardinal exports, including thenar oil, rubber, and cocoa.

Much of the connection astir Malaysia lifting commercialized barriers besides rehashes existing commercialized policies, said Jaideep Singh, an expert astatine the Institute of Strategic & International Studies successful Kuala Lumpur.

“For galore of the commitments to reducing non-tariff barriers acceptable retired successful the agreement, determination is nary further regulatory load connected the Malaysian government,” Singh told Al Jazeera.

President Donald Trump meets with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim connected the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit successful Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, connected October 26, 2025 [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]

Priyanka Kishore, manager and main economist astatine Asia Decoded successful Singapore, said Malaysia besides secured “peace of mind” connected tariffs.

In his “liberation day” announcement successful April, Trump threatened Southeast Asia with immoderate of the highest tariffs successful the world, earlier scaling backmost the rates for astir countries to 20 percent oregon lower.

Kishore said different ASEAN countries could look to the Malaysia-US woody arsenic they vie for little tariffs oregon circumstantial goods exemptions successful their ongoing negotiations with the Trump administration.

“It’s precise apt Malaysia serves arsenic a template for Vietnam, Thailand… and the remainder of the satellite successful presumption of what they tin look guardant to,” Kishore told Al Jazeera.

Trump’s plaything done the portion besides did not interaction connected industry-specific tariffs, specified arsenic those connected automobiles, aluminium, steel, and pharmaceuticals.

Jayant Menon, elder chap astatine the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute successful Singapore, said the astir important outstanding question aft Trump’s sojourn is however the deals volition beryllium enforced.

Menon noted that the US Congress has the powerfulness to modulate overseas trade, specified arsenic done escaped commercialized agreements, portion Trump has imposed tariffs by invoking exigency powers.

“The ineligible presumption and enforceability of some the commercialized deals being done, and the model agreements, is unclear due to the fact that these are not escaped commercialized agreements successful the accepted sense,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“It volition beryllium enforced done the menace of much punitive tariffs if a state doesn’t unrecorded up to what has been agreed successful these deals oregon model agreements.”