Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto recently met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the latter’s Putrajaya residence as ASEAN chair Kuala Lumpur tries to coordinate a unified bloc response to the US’ tariff blitz.

Just last week, US President Donald Trump made international headlines after he announced “reciprocal” tariffs on countries whom Washington deems as being unfair trading partners. These tariffs hit all ten ASEAN member countries, although the rates vary and can go as high as 49 percent. The initial 10 percent baseline tariff already took into effect over the weekend. The reciprocal tariffs will enter into force on April 9.

Malaysia, which is currently taking the helm of ASEAN, recently announced its intention to have all the group’s members establish a common position. Anwar has engaged in talks with his ASEAN counterparts, be it by phone or in-person, to discuss the bloc’s strategy. Most recently, Anwar hosted Prabowo, whom he referred to as an “old friend”, for such talks. 

“Amid a very blessed Eid, I received a friendly visit by an old friend and Indonesian president, Mr. Prabowo Subianto, this evening. We discussed important regional issues, including the impact of the US’ new tariffs on ASEAN countries,” Anwar wrote in an X post on Sunday night.

Anwar did not go into detail on the regional response that he and Prabowo had come up with. Prior to Prabowo’s Putrajaya visit, the Indonesian government revealed that they had “communicated with ASEAN chair Malaysia to take joint steps” as all the group’s members are subject to the tariffs. Both Anwar and Prabowo had previously talked over the phone to discuss Trump’s latest trade move.

Indonesia finds itself somewhere in the middle when it comes to which ASEAN country gets the short end of the stick. Cambodia will soon get hit by a 49 percent punitive tariff -- followed by Laos (48 percent) and Vietnam (46 percent). Myanmar, which is still recovering from the impact of the recent 7.7-magnitude earthquake, is about to face a 44 percent reciprocal tariff from the US. The rates against Thai goods stand at 36 percent, higher than Indonesia’s 32 percent. The rest of the tariffs for ASEAN members are as follows: Malaysia (24 percent); Brunei (24 percent); the Philippines (17 percent); Singapore (10 percent).

Singapore has decided not to charge American goods retaliatory tariffs. Malaysia has also chosen to hold back from retaliating "for now" until it irons out the tariff calculations with the US government. Cambodia, on the other hand, has offered to slash tariffs on several categories of imported American goods from a maximum levy of 35 percent to 5 percent. At home, Indonesia intends to send a high-level delegation to Washington DC to negotiate the tariffs with the US government. Indonesia has had a vacant ambassadorial post in the US for years, and will have to bank on this delegation to do the talking. 

The White House reported that US’ trade with ASEAN totaled approximately $476.8 billion throughout last year. The US' trade deficit with ASEAN had grown 11.6 percent year-on-year to $227.7 billion in 2024.

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