By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:United States(US) President Donald Trump is kicking off his first trip to the Asia Pacific since his re-election by attending the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, Aljazeera reported on Sunday.

ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) and, is an inter-governmental international organization, comprised of Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Tariffs and access to rare earth minerals are high on the agenda of the three-day gathering of Southeast Asian nations, which is occurring against the backdrop of the US-China trade war and strategic rivalry.