US President Donald Trump is on a five-country tour of Asia...with the focus of the first half of his trip on rising tensions in the Korean peninsula.
But the second half is about trade...with stops scheduled at the APEC economic leaders summit in Vietnam and the US-ASEAN summit in the Philippines.
And after pulling the US out of the Trans Pacific Partnership or TPP trade deal in his first few weeks in office, President Trump now has to reboot his relationship with the region.
Our Washington correspondent Giles Gibson has more:
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North Korea and it's nuclear program has dominated the headlines,
with U-S President Donald Trump promising in Seoul that Pyongyang should not underestimate the United States
warning in all capital letters
AND DO NOT TRY US.
But with his arrival in China,
the focus turns to trade and economy,
with the White House announcing $9 billion in business deals
and promising as much as $250 billion to be signed.
This may be seen as a change of tactic from the beginning of the Trump administration
One of the first things Donald Trump did was walk away from the TPP
the Trans Pacific Partnership
And as he makes his way across Asia, he's showing no signs of regretting that decision:
<<SOT: Donald Trump, US President>>
"We will have more trade than anybody ever thought of under TPP that I can tell you. TPP was not the right idea, probably some of you in this room disagree but ultimately I'll be proven to be right."
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But Charles Skuba a former trade negotiator now
a professor of international business at Georgetown University says,
he sees some softening in President Trump's attitude on trade.
<<SOT: Charles Skuba Professional of International Business, Georgetown University>>
"I believe President Trump remains a hard sell on the virtue of trade agreements, but he seems to be receptive to the notion of trade agreements that are bilateral in nature versus these large plurilateral agreements."
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The Trump administration says it wants to expand economic ties in Asia...but only with partners committed to "free, fair and reciprocal trade."
Just before he left Washington,
President Trump called the monthly trade imbalance with China - embarassing and horrible
the U-S purchases some $30 billion more in goods than it sends to China each month.
White House officials repeated this point in Beijing
speaking to reporters about the
severe imbalances in the U.S.-China economic relationship" including a " grossly unlevel playing field."
Dr Amy Searight, a Southeast Asia analyst with the center for strategic and international studies
, says Mr Trump first needs to get his tone right:
<<SOT: Dr Amy Searight Director of Southeast Asia Program, CSIS>>
"Having this president, President Trump, show up to these events and meet with all these different leaders is really important - it sends a signal, that's badly needed frankly, that this president and his administration will be engaged."
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The U-S business community is sending a delegation from 75 companies to the Asia Pacific Economic Council in Vietnam,
And then it's onto Manila Philippines for ASEAN - the association of East Asian Nations meetings, and then the East Asia Summit,
President Trump changed his schedule to attend that meeting.
However, the region is watching to see what his "America First" economic agenda really means.
Priscilla Huff, Washington
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