Travellers navigating the bustling halls of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport are greeted not just by modern terminal architecture, but by 12 towering, colour-splashed giants clad in golden armour.

Foreign ministers from countries participating in the East Asia Summit forum, which includes Japan, the United States, China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, avoided discussing tariffs at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, apparently out of consideration for the United States.