KOTA KINABALU: The import tariff imposed by the United States on Malaysia will not greatly affect the country’s commodity economy, specifically in the palm oil industry.
Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin said that Malaysia only exports a small volume of palm oil products (1% of the total export value) to the US.
“The United States is not our main export nation for palm oil, but of course, the tariff set will affect the market sentiment on our palm oil prices,” he said.
To prepare for any eventualities, Malaysia was already working on expanding its exports of palm oil to South Africa and other Middle Eastern nations.
“We want to focus on developing markets like India, China and Europe, so we must foster better trade relations with them,” he said.
He said this after officiating at the palm oil replanting smallholder funding incentive scheme programme in Tawau, Thursday (April 10).
In the programme, a total of 10 smallholders were given an incentive assistance totalling RM856,200.
A total of 1,500 smallholders involving 5,900 ha of oil palm estates would receive this allocation, amounting RM100mil nationwide.
