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Southeast Asian foreign ministers meet as US tariffs loom
From left to right, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono, Lao Minister for Foreign Affairs Thongsavanh Phomvihane, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamad Hasan, Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro, Brunei’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof, Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative Kyaw Nyun Oo, East Timor Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas and ASEAN’s Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn pose for a group photo during a plenary session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on July 9. (AP)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 9, (AP): Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Wednesday that global trade is being weaponized as Southeast Asia’s foreign ministers opened an annual meeting while facing the looming threat of U.S. trade tariffs. The threat of US tariffs has jolted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-member bloc that includes some of the world’s most trade-dependent economies.
Six ASEAN members are among the 14 countries that could see duties on their exports to the US skyrocket on Aug 1. Launching the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting, Anwar said the world is now witnessing an era where “power unsettles principle” and “tools once used to generate growth are now wielded to pressure, isolate and contain.”
Without mentioning the US by name, he again urged ASEAN to work together to respond to trade threats. “Our cohesion must not end at declarations,” he said, calling for members to increase intra-ASEAN trade, invest in regional integration, and reduce strategic dependencies on external powers. “This is no passing storm,” he said. “It is the new weather of our time.”
Trump first announced tariffs in April, but then delayed them for 90 days to allow for deals. On Tuesday, he announced new tariff with rates of between 25%-40% on 14 countries, which will go into effect Aug. 1 unless new deals are struck. He also threatened to increase tariffs if any countries retaliate. Many ASEAN members have launched bilateral talks with the U.S., but officials have said they plan to hold an ASEAN-U.S. summit later this year to seek a common position.
So far, only Vietnam has secured a deal, bringing down its tariffs from 46% to 20%. The list threatens 36% tariffs for Thailand and Cambodia, 32% for Indonesia, 25% for Malaysia, and 40% for Laos and war-torn Myanmar. In addition to confronting trade fallout, the bloc faces mounting internal challenges. The ongoing civil war in Myanmar and a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia are also on the agenda.
The gathering in Malaysia will be immediately followed by a series of critical meetings with ASEAN’s major trade partners, including the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India, and the European Union, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who last week cancelled trips to Japan and South Korea, will arrive Thursday for the talks on his first visit to Asia. Others visiting foreign ministers include China’s Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov of Russia. Analysts said these talks will test ASEAN’s ability to assert its voice amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on July 8, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 12, (AP): US President Donald Trump said in a letter that he will raise taxes on many imported goods from Canada to 35%, deepening a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. The Thursday letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is an aggressive increase to the top 25% tariff rates that Trump first imposed in March after months of threats.
Trump’s tariffs were allegedly in an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling despite the relatively modest trafficking in the drug from that country. Trump has also expressed frustration with a trade deficit with Canada that largely reflects oil purchases by America. “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter.
The higher rates would go into effect Aug. 1, creating a tense series of weeks ahead for the global economy as recent gains in the S&P 500 stock index suggest many investors think Trump will ultimately back down on the increases. But stock market futures were down early Friday in a sign that Trump’s wave of tariff letters may be starting to generate concern among investors.
In a social media post, Carney said Canada would continue to work toward a new trade framework with the U.S. and has made “vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl.” “Through the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and business,” Carney said. While multiple countries have received tariff letters this week, Canada – America’s second largest trading partner after Mexico – has become something of a foil to Trump.
It has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods and pushed back on the president’s taunts of making Canada the 51st state. Mexico has also faced 25% tariffs because of fentanyl, yet it has not faced the same public pressure from the Republican U.S. president. Carney was elected prime minister in April on the argument that Canadians should keep their “elbows up.” He has responded by distancing Canada from its intertwined relationship with the U.S., seeking to strengthen its links with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 9, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 10, (AP): US President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50% on Wednesday for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the U.S. leader’s use of tariffs. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss.
Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. “This Trial should not be taking place,” Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. “It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” There is a sense of kinship as Trump was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.
The US president addressed his tariff letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who bested Bolsonaro in 2022. Lula responded in a forceful statement that said Trump’s tariffs would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law, which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness.
He noted that the US has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years. “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone,” Lula said. Bolsonaro testified before the country’s Supreme Court in June over the alleged plot to remain in power after his 2022 election loss.
Judges will hear from 26 other defendants in the coming months, and legal analysts say a decision could come as early as September. The country’s electoral authorities have already barred Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030. The former president did not comment about Trump’s tariff decision on his social media channels, but wrote that he is being politically persecuted.
Head of the Kuwaiti Financial Intelligence Unit, Dr. Hamad Al-Mekrad, with the representative of the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit, Manish Herat, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
KUWAIT CITY, July 9: Kuwait’s Financial Intelligence Unit and India’s Anti-Money Laundering Bureau signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aiming to beef up cooperation on information exchange and financial intelligence efforts. In a statement to KUNA, the Kuwaiti financial watchdog’s chief Hamad Al- Mekrad said the deal, signed after a gathering of global financial watchdog body Egmont Group, is a testament to Kuwait and India’s collective commitment to boost transparency and cooperation, based on the principles and guidelines of the global financial organization of intelligence units.
The agreement is a major step forward towards clamping down on financial crime at a time of growing challenges that require greater cooperation and information exchange. The level of cooperation between the Kuwaiti and India financial intelligence units has been on an upward trajectory even before the new deal came to fruition, added the official, expecting the agreement to be instrumental in simplifying the flow of bilateral information exchange, he underlined.
Al-Mekrad noted that the priority now is to expand the scope of international cooperation, enhance the efficiency of information exchange under the highest standards, strengthen technical analysis capabilities, and build partnerships with counterpart units, thus contributing to protecting the national and global financial system from any illicit exploitation.(KUNA)
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