Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today said local businesses have not been affected by the tariffs imposed by the US.
Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat that US president Donald Trump’s tariff regime is aimed at pressuring companies to invest in the US rather than abroad.
Advertisement
“What losses have we faced? From our review, almost no tariffs are imposed on Malaysian companies that trade or invest in the US.
“The tariffs are applied to US companies operating and trading in our country,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
Anwar, who also serves as finance minister, said the government would continue monitoring developments regarding the trade deal and follow up on actions taken by Trump.
Anwar was responding to a supplementary question from Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) regarding losses suffered by Malaysian companies due to the implementation of the tariffs.
Malaysia and the US signed a reciprocal trade agreement when Trump visited Kuala Lumpur for the Asean summit last year.
The deal maintained the 19% tariffs on Malaysian goods, but certain products enjoyed zero tariffs under aligned partner-trade lists.
However, the US Supreme Court ruled last week that Trump had exceeded his authority in implementing the tariffs.
Trump has said he will impose global tariffs of 15% to replace the tariffs scrapped by the court, after he initially announced a 10% levy on all goods entering the US.
Yesterday, he warned that those countries that intend to exploit the US Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs would face much higher levies.
