Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economic situation and fundamentals are still under control, strong and stable amid the imposition of the United States (US) retaliatory tariffs on Malaysia, said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI).
Even after the 90-day pause announced by President Donald Trump to more than 75 countries, including Malaysia, its minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government would adopt and implement the bilateral and multilateral strategy driven by the three priorities of "reform, engage and diversify”.
He said the deferral period would be used to the fullest extent to ensure that the negotiation process could be carried out with the US in the near future.
"Our objective is to reduce the tariff and widen the range of exempted Malaysian exports to mitigate the negative impact on the country's economy.
"The US is one of Malaysia’s most important trading partners, but Malaysia has a diversified trade portfolio that is not overly reliant on just one or two markets," he said at a press conference regarding US tariffs here today.
Tengku Zafrul said total trade with the US in 2024 accounts for 11.3 per cent of Malaysia's total trade.
"This means we still have about 88 per cent of the market open for us to expand our trade.
"But we must also understand that the world's supply chains are very interconnected, where a shortage in one market may result in a domino effect or a direct impact on the supply chain involving Malaysia’s economic relations with other countries,” he said.
He said Malaysia still values the American market and will strive to continue discussions to find the best solution for Malaysia-US economic relations.
"For the first priority (engage), we will focus on the engagement sessions with the US government at every level in the near future, and currently, we are still waiting for an appointment date from the US Trade Representative (USTR).
"(As for second priority, to diversify), we will intensify proactive discussions with other economic blocs, countries and markets to expand the market,” he added.
Meanwhile, the third priority (reform) is to accelerate economic reforms, including the New Industrial Master Plan and the National Energy Transition Blueprint, to strengthen domestic supply chain capacity and help increase the resilience of exporters, he added.
He said Malaysia must act swiftly but, at the same time, be resilient and flexible in adapting to the latest developments and changes, especially in ensuring that short-term impacts can be mitigated while the economy is strengthened for the medium and long term. - Bernama
