The best deal with Trump is no deal

THE 46th Asean Summit took place this week against a backdrop of a changing world order, with multilateralism and globalisation in retreat. As Asean leaders confront the global economic uncertainty, created by the current US administration’s policies, the most strategic response to President Donald Trump’s tariff-driven approach is disengagement – not negotiation or appeasement.

Ignoring Trump is not passivity – it is strategic defiance. By refusing to be drawn into asymmetrical negotiations, Asean can safeguard its interests and let the costs of protectionism fall squarely on the US economy.

Trump’s depiction of China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Asean as job thieves is not just misleading – it is a deliberate distortion of economic reality. From 2021 to 2024, US unemployment averaged just 3.8 per cent – among the lowest not only in the developed world, but globally – exposing the falsehood that foreign economies are siphoning off American jobs. In fact, the US economy soared to a record US$29.3 trillion in 2024, retaining its status as the world’s largest economy, with per capita income of US$86,000.