KUALA LUMPUR: The United States will give special consideration to Malaysia’s semiconductor sector in tariff negotiations under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962, said Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said the tariffs on semiconductors are sectoral and were not included in the recently signed Malaysia-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART).
"The ART does not include sectoral tariffs... semiconductors fall under Section 232, which the US Secretary of Commerce will consider. What was negotiated was with the US Trade Representative (USTR),” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Liew was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Ahmad Amzad Mohamed @ Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu) on the impact of ART on the semiconductor sector.
Separately, in response to a question from Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh) on halal certification following the ART, Liew said the process for approving imports of halal products from the US remains unchanged under the agreement.
He said imports must comply with Malaysia’s halal standards and the Trade Descriptions Act (Trade Descriptions (Halal Certification and Labelling) Order 2011) for trade within Malaysia.
"These regulations stipulate that only halal products certified by US halal certification bodies recognised by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and that meet Malaysia’s halal requirements will be approved and permitted for export to Malaysia,” he elaborated. - Bernama
