Anwar says chip tariff not an issue for now after Trump meet

[WASHINGTON] Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that US President Donald Trump told him the US and Malaysia will deal with US tariffs on semiconductors “at the appropriate time”.

“For now, it’s not an issue,” Anwar said to Bloomberg News in a brief interview on Monday (Oct 27) following talks with Trump in Kuala Lumpur.

Trump is considering tariffs as high as 300 per cent on semiconductor imports, a move that threatens to hurt the world’s sixth-largest chip exporter. The US is Malaysia’s third-largest market for semiconductor exports.

The South-east Asian nation last year pledged at least RM25 billion (S$7.7 billion) to support its semiconductor industry, seeking to increase its role as tensions between the US and China shake up global supply chains. The industry aims to double its exports to RM1.2 trillion by 2030.

Both countries inked a trade deal on Sunday, with the tariff rate on Malaysian goods kept at 19 per cent. The agreement includes Malaysia’s pledge to invest US$70 billion in the US over the next 10 years.

Malaysian companies will also purchase US$150 billion worth of semiconductors, aerospace components and equipment, and data centre equipment from US firms over the next five years.

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“It’s much better than what I expected – the trust, the friendship and the commitment to enhance relations,” Anwar said of talks with Trump. BLOOMBERG