KUALA LUMPUR: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport to attend the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM) in Malaysia's capital.
Rubio was welcomed by an entourage at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, also known as Subang airport.
During his visit, Rubio is expected to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and attend the Asean Post-Ministerial Conference with the US on Thursday (July 10) evening.
Rubio is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with his counterpart Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan at 4pm and he is expected to meet Anwar at 4.45pm.
At 6pm, Rubio is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
On Friday (July 11), Rubio will participate in the 15th East Asia Foreign Ministers’ meeting and the 32nd Asean Regional Forum (ARF).
He is also anticipated to engage in bilateral meetings with Malaysian ministers during his stay.
Prime Minister Anwar had indicated plans to discuss tariff issues with Rubio before a final decision is made by US President Donald Trump.
On April 2, Trump announced tariffs on various countries, including a 24% tariff on Malaysia. The tariffs were paused for 90 days to allow for negotiations.
On Monday, Trump announced varying tariff rates on 14 countries to take effect on Aug 1, including a 25% rate on Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Tunisia, and Kazakhstan.
Other countries faced higher rates, such as Cambodia (36%), Thailand (36%), and 40% in Laos and Myanmar, respectively.
