PETALING JAYA: Asean’s common approach to the US tariffs could pave the way for more liberal trade and investment policies among its members, say experts.
Centre for Market Education chief executive officer Dr Carmelo Ferlito said the tariffs may have spurred some Asean countries towards adopting a less restrictive approach to trade and investment.
“US tariffs sounded like an alarm bell and many countries are running towards more open trade policies or even internal liberalisation.
“If the final outcome of US tariffs is that countries embrace more free trade and fewer business regulations, then that’s better than expected,” he said.
Ferlito, however, cautioned that restructuring trade and production networks would take time, and the impact of Malaysia’s push would not be instantly felt.
“But at least we have a push in the right direction, hoping that Asean will move towards more trade liberalisation, not only for products, but also for services such as labour,” he said.
Malaysia, which currently chairs Asean, has urged the 10-member bloc to boost intra-regional trade as a means to reduce reliance on other major markets, including taking a common stand on US tariffs.
Pacific Research Centre of Malaysia principal adviser Dr Oh Ei Sun said that while Asean member states might be taking a common stand on the tariffs, they could be guided by national interests when holding their own talks.
“Some Asean countries, the most prominent of which being Indonesia, seem to be more or less on the same page with Malaysia.
“Others, such as Vietnam, seem to prefer their own ways in dealing with the Americans,” he said.
Vietnam had offered to remove all tariffs on US imports after initially being hit with a 46% tariff.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” for countries around the world, including Malaysia, which was hit with a 24% tariff.
However, on April 9, Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by the higher tariffs.
On Saturday, the Trump administration exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from the tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
On the upcoming negotiations between Asean and Washington, Oh said non-tariff barriers of some Asean countries could be raised during the talks.
“Perhaps they could focus on how to remove these non-monetary tariffs in order to please Trump,” he said.
He also noted that the Asean delegation headed to the United States must be able to improvise with their negotiations if more changes are announced by Trump.
Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research geostrategist and senior fellow Prof Dr Azmi Hassan said it was good that Asean would be holding talks with the United States as a bloc, though member states were still free to negotiate matters with regard to their own national interest.
“Asean is on the same page with the Asean Chair in that there will not be reciprocal tariffs from Asean on the United States.”
