The U.S. State Department announced Monday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head to Malaysia Tuesday, just after threats of higher tariffs made by President Donald Trump on nations aligned with BRICS.

Rubio is expected to seek to firm up U.S. ties with partners unnerved by Trump's global tariff strategy, but the tariff announcements seem certain to make that task harder.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Malaysia this week to attend meetings of Southeast Asian Nations in his first trip to Asia as America's top diplomat, the State Department said on Monday.