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Govt sees US tariffs as 'wake-up call' to boost intra-ASEAN trade
Southeast Asian countries are looking to boost trade with their neighbors as a way to stave off the impending impacts of US tariffs following the 90-day reprieve, given that intra-ASEAN trade in 2023 totaled US$759 billion, around a third higher than the region’s total trade with the US last year.
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A man adjusts the Philippines’ national flag on Jan. 17, 2025, among a line of the flags of ASEAN member states led by the bloc’s flag (right), two days before the convening of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia. (Reuters/Hasnoor Hussain)
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he government has acknowledged a need to boost trade with its ASEAN neighbors following the United States’ sweeping “reciprocal” tariff policy on dozens of countries, amid an eleventh-hour pause issued by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
At the same time, it remains committed to engaging the US in dialogue grounded in a “rules-based global order”, including the frameworks of the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno.
“When the dust settles, this might probably a good thing,” Havas said on Thursday, during an online panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.
“It’s a wake-up call for us, a very good [moment] for ASEAN, to create strategic regional independence in economic affairs,” he added.
Read also: US tariffs a serious threat to RI GDP growth, Sri Mulyani warns
Still, boosting intra-ASEAN trade won’t be a walk in the park, he continued.
Havas emphasized that the region must reexamine its existing free trade agreements (FTAs), identify and dismantle trade barriers among member states and fast-track the completion of the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA).
