AsianFin -- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, serving as ASEAN’s rotating chair, emphasized the need to uphold the multilateral trade system to withstand challenges posed by global uncertainties at the 46th ASEAN Summit.

Anwar highlighted that ASEAN leaders reached a consensus at the summit: when engaging in negotiations with the United States on tariffs and bilateral trade, no country should do so at the expense of other regional members. The collective interests of ASEAN, a region with a population of 660 million, must be jointly protected.

In response, ASEAN decided to establish a task force to centrally coordinate measures addressing U.S. tariff policies, while some member countries will also conduct bilateral negotiations with the U.S.