KUALA LUMPUR: High retaliatory tariffs imposed by the United States could have dealt a heavy blow to Malaysia’s exports, employment, and investment climate if not handled carefully, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul was responding to a question from Bera MP Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Dewan Negara, who had asked the minister to explain the impact of bilateral trade between Malaysia and the United States following new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, as well as the number of companies involved and the total export and import value between the two countries up to the third quarter of this year.
In the written reply, Tengku Zafrul said a 25 per cent tariff announced by Washington on July 7 could have made Malaysian products less competitive in the American market and triggered order cancellations, job cuts and reduced profits for local exporters.
“In view of this, and taking into account the importance of trade and investment relations between the two countries, the government has taken a strategic step by adopting a whole-of-government approach in addressing the issue of US retaliatory tariffs,” he said.
Through MITI, the government pursued a negotiation strategy based on trade diplomacy to safeguard national interests without compromising the country’s position, while maintaining strategic trade and investment ties between Malaysia and the United States, he added.
Tengku Zafrul said this approach led to successful negotiations concluded between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Trump on Oct 26, which resulted in the tariff imposed on Aug 1 being maintained at 19 per cent.
He said that according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, more than 7,700 Malaysian companies were involved in export activities to the US last year, employing about 1.1 million workers, with electrical and electronic products being the main contributors.
Tengku Zafrul warned that if Malaysia had refused to negotiate or had imposed counter-tariffs, it could have negatively impacted export markets worth RM198.65 billion across multiple sectors that support the economy, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
