KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should take advantage of all unilateral free trade agreements to further expand market potential as an early preparatory measure to face any possible impact from the implementation of tariffs by US president Donald Trump.
Director of the Master of Business Administration Programme at Putra Business School associate professor Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said this effort could ensure that Malaysia is not overly dependent on one or two major trading countries such as the United States and China.
Among the free trade agreements that Malaysia has signed are the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP and also as a partner country of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa or BRICS.
“Also as Asean chair, Malaysia should take the opportunity to increase trade activities within the region for the benefit of the country and its member countries,” he told Bernama.
According to Ahmed Razman, the impact of the implementation of import tariffs by the United States on Malaysia and regional countries will only become clearer today when Trump announces the tariff rates that will be imposed on 15 countries that trade with the United States, which is causing the United States to experience a trade deficit.
Of the 15 countries, he said five were Asean countries, namely, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“In the ‘dirty 15’ list, Malaysia is likely to be among the countries with the lowest trade surplus with the United States and therefore, if the United States were to impose tariffs on Malaysian goods, the rate imposed is likely to be quite low or minimal,” he said.
Apart from that, he said there was still room for the Malaysian government to negotiate with the United States to obtain an exemption from the imposition of the tariffs.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) had earlier said the introduction of tariffs by the United States on Mexico, Canada and China could open up opportunities for Malaysian exporters to increase production and double their exports to the United States.
In a reply at the recent Dewan Negara session, Miti said although it would not have a direct impact on Malaysian exports, the increase in the price of products from countries subject to tariffs would make Malaysian products a more competitive market alternative.
“Investor countries are also expected to look for new investment destination targets as well as competitive product sources to avoid paying high tariffs,” he said.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2025/04/02/unilateral-deals-can-help-prepare-msia-for-possible-tariff-impact