Published: 16 Jul 2025

Author: Joanne Lin

US Secretary of State came to Malaysia with well-crafted words about the importance of ASEAN, but his rhetoric is undermined by Washington’s protectionist trade policies.

It was a visit designed to reassure. Yet when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kuala Lumpur for his first ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference last week, his message was already undercut by Washington’s latest salvo of tariffs. While Rubio sought to distance himself from the Trump administration’s trade decisions, the contrast between his warm rhetoric and the hard edge of protectionist policy left ASEAN leaders unconvinced.

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https://fulcrum.sg/rubios-reassurances-to-asean-rings-hollow/

The article was published by ISEAS.

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