We’re tracking President Donald Trump’s diplomatic tour in Asia, as he firms up a string of agreements in the region.
Trump has left Malaysia and is now on his way to Japan, where he will meet the country’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday.
In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Trump joined the signing of a peace declaration between Thailand and Cambodia. Trump has repeatedly called it a peace “treaty,” though the document called it a joint declaration and Thai diplomats were more measured in their description.
Thailand and Cambodia sign peace agreement
Cambodia and Malaysia each signed reciprocal trade agreements with the US that include access to critical minerals.
Trump also met with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva while in Kuala Lumpur, signaling an ease in relations following a major rift this year. Lula said he was “convinced” his country would soon strike a trade deal with the US, with both sides saying they had a very good meeting.
Across town, US trade negotiators reached the framework of a trade deal with China. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that an escalation in tariffs on China is “effectively off the table” following what he described as “very good” trade talks. Chinese negotiators echoed that characterization, saying the sides had reached a “basic consensus.”
Bessent also said soybean farmers are going to be “extremely happy” with the terms of the deal, and that he, too, had been burdened by trade tensions with China as the owner of soybean and corn farms.
The progress set the table for Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.
Video: What’s next for Trump-Xi trade talks
Stocks rose in response to news of the progress.
Beyond trade talk, Trump is expected to urge Xi to join the US pressure campaign against Russia. “China needs to join the US and our other allies in raising their voice and saying that this senseless (Ukraine) war needs to end,” US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Sunday. Last week, the Trump administration unexpectedly announced “massive sanctions” on Russia’s two biggest oil producers.
