KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): US President Donald Trump’s globally condemned tarrifs have unexpectedly spurred groupings like Asean and the European Union (EU) to accelerate alliance formation, enhancing their economic resilience against similar risks.

Chris Humphrey, the executive director of the EU-Asean Business Council based in Singapore, said Trump’s debilitating tariffs on 168 countries that disrupted the entire global economy could force officials from both groupings to take a serious relook at the EU-Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) — the talks of which were suspended in 2009.

When in Brussels recently, he said he noticed that the mindset in Europe has definitely changed, and that it needs to do more outreach and work with international partners.

“Asean has suddenly leapt up the agenda in Brussels as a result of that,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 46th Asean summit, the Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Asean-GCC-China summits.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Monday opened the Asean summit as chair of Asean, which is themed “Inclusivity and Sustainability”.

The EU has four ongoing FTA negotiations in Asean, namely with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Humphrey, during his meeting with European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic in Singapore recently, said Sefcovic made it clear that the EU needs to get these trade deals over the line fast, and that “there has to be give and take on both sides”.

Humphrey also said: “Trump is clearly determined to disrupt the entire global economy for which you can have different views about his motives and the economic case behind his tariffs.

“I personally think his tariffs are completely nonsensical and the approach is just strange, and probably going to do more damage to the US,” he added.

However, he also said that “one of the big silver linings is that he is waking up the whole world, with countries realising they need to approach what they’ve been doing previously in a different way, (and) that’s particularly true for Europe, which is now realising it has been in an abusive (trade) relationship with the United States.

“Both blocs (Asean and EU) believe in a global rules-based trading order, and want to do things about greening their economies as well.

“They are a natural fit when it comes to trading and complementing each other, (and) they’re not competing with each other,” he said.

Due to the tariffs, the situation is “not going to get better; it’s going to get worse, which is why Europe needs to find more friends out there in the world who have the same mindset.

“That points you towards Southeast Asia, and automatically the Asean grouping,” he said.

“You’re going to see a lot more interaction, more high-level visits, and more European businesses looking to Southeast Asia,” Humphrey said.

And a further attraction is that the “Asean growth story has been phenomenal”.

Besides rapid gross domestic growth projected to expand by 4.7% next year, from 4.2% in 2024, Asean’s other exemplary pull factors include its rapid urbanisation, growing middle class, and a relatively young tech-savvy population.

Its other credentials include its good manufacturing base, and the availability of critical raw materials — all of which help the region to continue to grow, Humphrey said.

There would be more trade with Europe and more investments coming from Europe, he added.

“Potential areas for increased cooperation include energy cooperation, support for the Asean Power Grid, automotives, electric vehicle development, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors without a doubt,” he said.

Read also:
US tariffs loom over Asean Summit as ties with China strengthen
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