According to the official website of the US Department of State, US Secretary of State Rubio will visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from July 8 to 12 to attend follow-up meetings of the ASEAN-US Ministerial Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting. He also plans to meet with senior Malaysian government officials.
The website states that this is Rubio's first visit to Asia since taking office as Secretary of State, and he will focus on reaffirming the US commitment to promoting a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region.
Malaysia is the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2025. During Rubio's visit to Malaysia, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also be in Kuala Lumpur from July 10 to 11.
According to AFP, Rubio is also US President Trump's National Security Advisor. For several months, Rubio has focused in Washington on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but this time he will focus on US policy toward Asia.
An unnamed senior State Department official told the media that prioritizing and reaffirming Washington's commitment to East Asia and Southeast Asia "serves US interests."
The official added: "This promotes both US prosperity and US security."
On July 7, US President Trump announced a set of tariff rates taking effect from August 1, with countries including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and others facing a 25% tariff, and Laos facing 40%.
At a summit at the end of May, Southeast Asian leaders expressed great concern about Trump's trade protectionist actions.
The above-mentioned senior US official said it is expected that ASEAN foreign ministers will bring up this issue, and Rubio is likely to tell them that the US hopes to "rebalance" trade relations.