KUALA LUMPUR: The US tariffs situation is still fluid, says Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
“The reality is this is a fluid situation that is develops by the day and by the hour,” he said during a joint press conference with Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour after the conclusion of the 12th Asean Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting here on Thursday (April 10).
Amir Hamzah said Asean and Malaysia should go back to its core principle which is promoting multilateralism, free trade and good clear dialogues.
He said there is no point to overreacting at the moment but instead it is important to work on matters that were under control such as improving areas where there still had potential for economic integration.
“The Asean philosophy has always been that we trade with everyone because much more trading in the world creates more prosperity,” he said.
"We understand there will be challenges and there will continue to be attempts and a lot of other things along the way.
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"Even the Malaysian Government is looking at the impact this is going to make. We should not take decisions without working through how the impact is best managed,” he added.
On fears of China turning Asean countries into a dumping ground, Amir Hamzah said Malaysia does not welcome any form of dumping into the market and there are mechanisms in place to monitor this.
Concurring with Amir Hamzah on the fluidity of the tariff situation Abdul Rasheed acknowledged the 24% tariff imposed against Malaysian exports to the United States was higher than expected.
“It is good to wait and see once it has settled down once you have clarity in terms of the level of tariff, when will it be introduced, how much it is, and what are the impact of retaliation and the details of the product itself,” he said adding that early assessments has been made on the situation.
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He said it would be easier to make a proper assessment once there is more information.
On what can be done, he said Asean can leverage on each other to increase trade among members.
“Among us, if we can work together and enhance integration that is where we can really manage and mitigate any potential impact that comes from this development,” he said.
On revision of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast of 4.5%-5.5% for 2025, he said this is currently under review.
He said when the forecast was made, the central bank did take into account potential impacts from tariffs.
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“But when the announcement was made on Liberation Day the size of the tariff was huge. It was bigger than what we expected so based on that there would be some impact on the growth range,” he said.
It is under review at the moment, But we are not going to be in a rush to change the range at this point of time.Why? because there is no certainty,” he said.
He said adjustments would be made once things settle down and the parameters affecting growth range becomes more clear.
Just hours after the tariffs against America’s trading partners came into effect on Wednesday (April 9), President Donald Trump announced a 90 days pause on the implementation.
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Trump said he was authorising a universal "lowered reciprocal tariff of 10%” against countries that have not retaliated and as negotiations continued.
Malaysia exports to the US were originally subjected to 24% reciprocal tariffs while Lao was hit with 48% and Indonesia with 32%.
At the same time he increased tariffs on goods from China to 125%, after Beijing retaliated by saying it would impose tariffs of 84% on US imports.
