KUALA LUMPUR: United States President Donald Trump will announce the tariff rate for Malaysian imports on Friday, said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, confirming on Thursday (Jul 31) that he had spoken to Trump.

“(Hopefully) tomorrow's general tariff rate won't be a burden to our economy,” Anwar said.

Malaysia is facing a 25 per cent tariff rate on its goods exported to the US, but The Straits Times reported official sources saying a deal to lower the rate to a maximum of 20 per cent, or as low as 15 per cent, should be announced by Friday.

Anwar’s update comes days after he hosted successful peace talks between Thailand and Cambodia in Putrajaya. Both sides reached a ceasefire agreement after armed conflict over a border dispute that killed over 40 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

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The talks were co-organised by the US, with Trump dangling the carrot of trade negotiations to nudge Thailand and Cambodia to halt armed attacks.

Trump also said he would attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit that will be held in Malaysia from Oct 26 to 28, according to Anwar.

WHAT TRUMP'S ATTENDANCE WOULD SIGNAL

His attendance would be “highly significant” and demonstrate that the US “still has an interest in the region”, analysts told CNA.

“There is a perception that the Trump administration is not focused or interested in Southeast Asia,” said Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Southeast Asia Programme at Australian think tank Lowy Institute.

US tariffs have also “damaged regional perceptions of the US as a responsible power and one that adheres to rules-based order”, he said.

Trump's attendance, therefore, would send a “strong signal that the US is actively trying to reassure ASEAN partners after recent tensions over tariffs”, said Joanne Lin, a senior fellow and coordinator at the ASEAN Studies Centre of Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Trump has attended only one ASEAN Summit – in 2017, during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021.

The last time a US president personally attended the ASEAN Summit was in 2022 when Joe Biden travelled to Phnom Penh when Cambodia was the ASEAN chair. 

In 2023 and 2024, Biden sent a representative. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris attended in 2023, followed by then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2024. This prompted some analysts to suggest a “further downgrade” in US presence in the region.

It remains to be seen, however, if Trump’s attendance in October is “genuinely aimed at enhancing ASEAN-US relations” or to counter-balance China’s growing influence in the region, Lin said.

“Whether this symbolic visit leads to substantial policy shifts or remains largely diplomatic optics will be closely watched,” she said.

The overriding reason for Trump’s attendance could be meetings on the sidelines with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both of whom have been reportedly invited by Anwar, said another observer. 

“It would be unseemly for Trump to meet Putin deliberately in a stand-alone summit, so meeting aside (through the ASEAN Summit) is perhaps more palatable,” said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Lin noted that Russia and China typically send their premiers for ASEAN-related meetings.

Russia is usually represented by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishutin or Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, mirroring China’s practice of sending Premier Li Qiang. 

Li participated in the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Summit in May this year.

Lavrov attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Malaysia early this month. 

Both Li and Lavrov attended the East Asia Summit held at the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos last October. 

In November 2022, Biden attended the ASEAN-US and East Asia summits.

“If both Trump and Putin (do) attend, it would be a significant diplomatic victory for ASEAN, greatly enhancing its reputation as an influential convening power,” Lin said. 

This would especially boost PM Anwar’s standing as a skilled diplomatic broker capable of bringing together major global leaders who typically avoid such multilateral platforms, she added.

The timing of Trump’s confirmation suggests his recognition of Anwar’s diplomatic role, particularly his “successful mediation of the Cambodia-Thailand conflict”, Lin said.

In July at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting and related meetings, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first trip to Asia since taking office.

He attended the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum alongside counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and Southeast Asian states.

Rubio also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as their countries vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of simmering tension over a US trade tariffs offensive.