Kuala Lumpur: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, marking their first face-to-face encounter amid escalating trade disputes.

Rubio’s visit to Malaysia is part of his broader first trip to Asia since assuming office, where he is participating in key regional discussions alongside leaders from countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Russia, and Southeast Asian nations.

The upcoming meeting with Wang takes place as tensions between the United States and China intensify over tariffs and trade policies.

Recently, the U.S. announced significant tariffs on several Asian nations, including 25% on Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia; 32% on Indonesia; 36% on Thailand and Cambodia; and up to 40% on Myanmar and Laos.

China has condemned these tariffs, warning they undermine the global free trade system and threaten economic development.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have ratcheted up since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariff war that briefly sent duties on each other’s exports sky-high.

At one point the United States hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China’s countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent.