Malaysia pushes for coordinated South-east Asia tariff response
MALAYSIA will lead efforts to coordinate a regional response in South-east Asia towards US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
“Malaysia, as Asean chair, will lead efforts to present a united regional front, maintain open and resilient supply chains, and ensure Asean’s collective voice is heard clearly and firmly on the international stage,” he said during a video address posted on his social media channels, including Facebook, late on Sunday (Apr 6).
In a separate post, Anwar said he had a call with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on a collective response by the region. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto also met Anwar on Sunday evening, and they discussed the impact of the new US tariffs on Asean countries, among other issues.
The member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – a collective grouping of 10 countries in the region – are among those hardest hit by US tariffs. Vietnam and Cambodia were slapped with 46 per cent and 49 per cent tariff rates, respectively, by the Trump administration, while Malaysia received a 24 per cent rate.
Like its regional peers, Malaysia had opted not to retaliate against the tariffs while seeking engagement, but has refuted the Trump administration’s claim that it imposes a 47 per cent tariff on US goods.
Anwar said the government has set up a geo-economic command centre, and said efforts were already underway to engage the US to find a “mutually acceptable solution”. He said Malaysia’s response will be “calm, firm and guided by Malaysia’s national interests”.
He reiterated earlier assertions that the country won’t enter into a recession due to the tariffs, but said that the government may review its gross domestic product growth targets for this year should the tariffs come into effect on Apr 9.
“We must acknowledge that this round of sweeping tariffs may just be the beginning of greater challenges to come in the external economy,” said Anwar. BLOOMBERG
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