The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), reciprocal tariff from the United States, and the civil war in Myanmar will be among the discussions in the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit from May 26 to 27 in Malaysia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to support the ASEAN on a non-retaliatory response on the tariffs from the US.

In a press briefing in Malacanang, Foreign Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial said the use of AI will be tackled during the talks on digital transformation.

On reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, he said ASEAN has decided against imposing its own additional tariffs on US goods.

"Instead, we will continue to strengthen bilateral and multilateral engagement with the US so that the outcome of those discussions will be positive," Imperial said.

Last April, Trump imposed additional tariffs ranging from 10 percent to as high as 125 percent on imported goods in his bid to correct the alleged "unfair trading" practice of other countries.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will uphold the country's interest underscoring the country's sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in all of his engagement in the ASEAN Summit .

Imperial said Marcos "will be participating in the 46th ASEAN Summit in the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit in the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit all happening in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 26 and 27 May".

Imperial said the President is expected to attend nine leaders’-level engagements ? six of these will be held on May 26 and these are some of the meetings that will be attended by the President.

"So, there is the Plenary Session and the Retreat Session of the 46th ASEAN Summit; and then, there will be three leader’s interface meetings with the parliamentarians with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and also the representatives from ASEAN youth; and finally, on that day, there will be a signing ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045," he said.

In the following day, Marcos will also participate in three more meetings these are the 16th Brunei, Darussalam- Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area Summit or the BIMP-EAGA Summit which the President himself will be chairing; and then, there’s also the 2nd ASEAN Gulf Cooperation Council Summit; and finally, the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit.

"In all these engagements, the President will continue to uphold and promote Philippine interests in ASEAN such as deepening security and stability in the region, economic cooperation and broadening engagement with dialogue partners," he stressed.

"Furthermore, the President will continue to underscore the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law including the 1982 UNCLOS and the 2016 arbitral award," he added. Robina Asido/DMS