Tariffs of 10% to 49%: that is what the United States had pushed onto ASEAN members when the bloc’s leaders gathered in Kuala Lumpur on 26 May 2025. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, presiding as chair, opened the 46th summit by saying he had written to President Donald Trump to ask for an ASEAN-US summit that year to settle the matter.
Trump had announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs the month before, and member states had moved quickly to open talks with Washington. Anwar did not soften his tone. “A transition in the geopolitical order is underway,” he said, “and the global trading system is under further strain with the recent imposition of US unilateral tariffs.”
He added that “protectionism is resurging as we bear witness to multilateralism breaking apart at the seams.”
Two summits, one host
The 46th summit ran 26 to 27 May. The 47th followed on 26 to 28 October, the fifth and sixth times Malaysia has hosted the meetings. On the first day Anwar floated the idea that Timor-Leste could join at the October session. He later confirmed 26 October as the date.
The May opening day centred on signing the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future. It also included the first ASEAN-China-GCC summit, which put the bloc, China and the Gulf Cooperation Council at one table. Negotiations on two trade pacts, the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement upgrade and ACFTA 3.0 with China, were wrapped up at the May meeting, according to Singapore’s deputy prime minister, Gan Kim Yong.
What October delivered
Leaders signed the accession of Timor-Leste as the 11th member. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord on their border conflict, with Trump and Anwar attending.
China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, and Malaysia’s trade minister, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, signed the ACFTA 3.0 upgrade protocol, covering digital and green economies and supply chain links. The upgraded ATIGA was handed over by the bloc’s economic ministers.
On Myanmar, leaders reviewed the Five-Point Consensus and the political and humanitarian crisis behind it. Myanmar’s military rulers have been barred from key meetings since the 2021 coup, and the bloc invites “non-political” representatives instead.
Malaysia handed the chair to the Philippines on 28 October. Singapore is next in line after that.
Sources
- 2025 ASEAN Summits – Wikipedia
- TRT World – ASEAN summit kicks off in Malaysia with spotlight on key regional issues
- PM Wong heads to KL for high-profile Asean Summit amid global, regional tensions
