As Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Malaysia on Thursday for a gathering of top diplomats from Asian nations, as many of them were grappling with new tariff threats from President Trump.
Mr. Rubio planned to attend a meeting with counterparts from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations soon after landing in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Mr. Rubio is also scheduled to have a variety of other diplomatic talks on Thursday and Friday before flying back to Washington.
Top diplomats from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia are holding meetings as well in the city this week.
The State Department is framing Mr. Rubio’s whirlwind trip as an effort to reinforce alliances and partnerships that the United States has across Asia and to counter China by building up those ties.
“In his first trip to Asia as secretary of state, Secretary Rubio is focused on reaffirming the United States commitment to advancing a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region,” said Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman, at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday, using a stock phrase that U.S. officials employ to try to underscore China’s aggressive maritime and territorial moves in the region.
However, Mr. Trump’s sudden announcement on Monday that he would impose higher tariffs on 14 nations if they do not reach trade deals with the United States by Aug. 1 is sure to overshadow whatever discussions Mr. Rubio aims to have with the American partners. At least eight of the 14 countries are expected to have diplomats at meetings in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia, the host nation, is one of the 14.
Malaysian officials were surprised by Mr. Trump’s proposal of a 25 percent tariff on the country’s exports to the United States, which would be paid by American companies importing the goods.
The number was almost the same as the 24 percent figure that Mr. Trump proposed in April before suspending the action for 90 days. Malaysia has been trying hard to negotiate a trade deal with the United States since then, and officials from the two governments have held 25 rounds of talks.
On Wednesday, the day before Mr. Rubio’s arrival, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia called on Southeast Asian officials to more tightly coordinate their foreign and economic policies in the face of Mr. Trump’s threats.
“Tariffs, export restrictions and investment barriers have now become the sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry,” he said in the opening speech of a gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers. “This is no passing storm. It is the new weather of our time.”
China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, is expected to attend the conclave this week and will no doubt promote his nation as a reliable trade partner, in contrast with the United States.
Mr. Trump has alternately lavished praise on China’s authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping, and criticized the country for unfair trade practices. China has been a main target in the trade war that Mr. Trump started soon after taking office in January.
However, rather than working closely with U.S. partners to present a united front against China on trade issues, Mr. Trump has gone on a broad assault against many of those nations.
“The U.S. intends to use these negotiations to pressure countries to curtail trade and investment ties with China,” said Stephen Olson, a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS — Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and a former U.S. trade negotiator. “That will inevitably bleed over into U.S.-China discussions and obviously complicate third-country relationships with China.”
Many of the countries trade more with China than with the United States, so Mr. Trump’s pressure campaign could backfire. And there is an “open question,” Mr. Olson said: “As Trump continues to move the goal posts and blow through deadlines, will countries start to question the point of attempting to negotiate?”
Mr. Trump appears to be seeking trade agreements with countries to present as wins to the American public, even if the terms do not amount to obvious victories for U.S. commercial interests.
Across Republican and Democratic administrations, the United States has struggled to show Asian nations that it has a strategic vision for the region and is committed to counterbalancing China across economic, diplomatic and military fronts. Mr. Trump’s tariff threats aimed at treaty allies, including Japan and South Korea, raise further doubts about that commitment.
In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Philippines and Japan, both allies of the United States, and reiterated Washington’s support for them.
However, the Trump administration could try to unwind some of the military initiatives in the region that the Biden administration pushed. The Pentagon is reviewing the deal that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. reached with the leaders of Australia and Britain to provide nuclear-powered submarines and related technology to Australia, an agreement known as AUKUS. Some Pentagon officials have expressed skepticism about sending advanced U.S. weapon systems to allies.
Mr. Rubio is arriving in Asia more than five months after becoming secretary of state, and after traveling to Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Rubio could have committed to a longer trip in Asia and stopped at more countries, but he stayed in Washington at the start of this week to attend meetings at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Some American foreign-policy advisers say the U.S. government has spent too much time and resources on conflicts in the Middle East in recent decades and not enough on Asia, which has the world’s most populous nations and largest economies outside the United States.
Derek J. Grossman, an analyst of Asia security issues and a former U.S. intelligence official, wrote online on July 3 that a brief trip by Mr. Rubio to Asia “raises concerns, again, that Indo-Pacific isn’t really the priority theater.”
Zunaira Saieed contributed reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Alexandra Stevenson contributed from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Edward Wong reports on global affairs, U.S. foreign policy and the State Department for The Times.
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