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President Donald Trump’s visit to Southeast Asia started with the twin themes of peace and prosperity as the President witnessed a peace treaty he arranged between Thailand and Cambodia and inked deals on trade and strategic minerals with Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia ahead of a possible meeting with Red China’s dictator Xi Jinping.
"We did something that a lot of people said couldn't be done," Trump said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet called it a "historic day," and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the agreement creates "the building blocks for a lasting peace."
The president signed economic agreements with Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, some of them aimed at increasing trade involving critical minerals. The U.S. wants to rely less on China, which has limited exports of key components in technology manufacturing.
"It's very important that we cooperate as willing partners with each other to ensure that we can have smooth supply chains, secure supply chains, for the quality of life, for our people and security," said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, NPR reported.
The first leg of the trip included a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, hosted in Kuala Lumpur. The trip will also include visits to Japan and South Korea and a potential meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The president attended this summit only once during his first term, so the trip is a chance for Trump to reengage with a collection of nations that has a combined $3.8 trillion economy and 680 million people.
"The United States is with you 100%, and we intend to be a strong partner and friend for many generations to come," Trump said. He described his counterparts as "spectacular leaders" and said, "everything you touch turns to gold."
Bloomberg reported President Trump and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim signed the trade agreement and critical minerals pact as the Trump administration looked to boost trade across Southeast Asia and respond to China’s tightening of access to rare earths.
Malaysia “is going to be modifying its tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and we intend to have a lot more trade,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said at the signing in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, adding that he expected agriculture, technology and services sectors to benefit from the agreement.
Greer said that the critical minerals deal made sure that trade and investment in the rare earths would make trade “as free as possible and resilient as possible.”
Bloomberg reported trade between the two countries totaled nearly $87 billion last year, according to the US Trade Representative. The bulk of that was trade in goods, with the US holding a $25 billion deficit, while it had a $1.7 billion surplus in services.
Malaysia had been seeking less onerous US trade conditions for months, and has vowed to crack down on the smuggling of advanced semiconductors through the country to China.
Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz said Saturday that Malaysia is negotiating to be spared from tariffs on semiconductor imports to the US, its third-largest market for chips.
Cutting off Communist China’s smuggled chip supplies and breaking its stranglehold on the rare earth minerals crucial to their manufacture prior to President Trump’s meeting with an allegedly weakened Red Chinese leader Xi Jinping is a major power move by the President.
According to China analyst Gordon Chang, Xi Jinping's power has weakened significantly, particularly following an alleged purge of top military officials in October. Chang asserts that Xi has lost control of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which he considers the most powerful faction within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Following a weekend of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, a senior US official told the Financial Times that Beijing’s likely delay was prompted by Washington’s threat of additional tariffs as well as pressure from other countries that rely on the minerals.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told ABC News that he expected China would delay the controls on minerals used in fighter jets, smartphones and electric vehicles for a year while Beijing re-examined them. They are due to come into force in coming weeks.
Li Chenggang, the top trade negotiator in China’s delegation, did not comment on a possible delay but told reporters that Beijing and Washington had reached a “preliminary consensus” on export controls, fentanyl and extending a trade truce that is set to expire on November 10, noted Bloomberg.
However, it remains to be seen whether Xi Jinping’s perceived domestic weakness will make him more amenable to a trade deal with the United States, or cause him to dig in his heels and continue the “all domain” war he has been conducting against our country.
President Trump has expressed confidence about the prospect of finalizing trade agreements with Japan and South Korea, two longstanding allies and trading partners, during the trip.
"We have deals with a lot of people and they're very good deals," he told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.
- Trump foreign policy
- Rare earth minerals
- Trump trade policy
- Xi Jinping
- China tariffs
- Southeast Asia
- Thailand
- Cambodia
- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet
- Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul
- Malaysia
- Critical minerals
- U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer
- Japan
- South Korea
- semiconductor imports
- China People's Liberation Army (PLA)
- US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent
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