East Asia Summit statement to express concern over trade tensions
Foreign ministers attend the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on July 11, 2025
The 18-member East Asia Summit that began in Malaysia on Friday is expected to express concerns over rising global trade tensions in its chairman’s statement, without specifically mentioning U.S. tariffs.
Foreign ministers attending the summit from Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, India, Russia, China, the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Kuala Lumpur at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has informed more than 20 countries, including most of the 10 ASEAN economies, of new tariff rates starting on Aug. 1.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Washington has signed off on the statement.
The chairman, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, states in the draft that participants expressed “concerns over the rising global trade tensions and increasing uncertainty in the international economic landscape.” He also reiterated “the importance of strengthening economic relations among the EAS participating countries.”
Without mentioning U.S. tariffs, Hasan says the foreign ministers’ meeting reaffirmed a commitment to strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, the draft statement showed.
In his opening remarks on Friday, Hasan said, “Today’s world faces a complex web of crises that jeopardize global peace,” ranging from “the outbreak of conflicts and rising great power competition, to economic fragmentation, rapid technological shifts, and transnational security threats.”
“These global and regional dynamics are shifting rapidly, testing the strength of our resolve and institutions, the clarity of our vision, and the resilience of our cooperation,” he said.
Shri Pabitra Margherita, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles [MoS (PM)] first visited Cambodia on July 7-8, 2025.
Thereafter he came to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 10-11 July 2025, at the invitation of the current ASEAN Chair, Malaysia. Sri Pabitra will participate in the Foreign Ministers’ Meetings under the ASEAN framework in the format of ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
India and ASEAN share cultural and civilizational bonds. ASEAN is the cornerstone of India’s Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision. The visit has renewed India’s deep engagement with the ASEAN-centred regional architecture, underlined India’s strong commitment to ASEAN unity, ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and strengthened the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Minister also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other countries in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the margins of the ASEAN-related meetings.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Russian and Chinese foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi attended the gathering on Friday, the final day of a series of ASEAN-related ministerial meetings that began Wednesday in the Malaysian capital.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Lo
