Malaysia was in the midst of tariff negotiations with the United States when President Donald Trump announced that they would impose a 25% rate on Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
However, the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said he was optimistic as there was still time for both the United States and Malaysia to reach a more balanced and pragmatic outcome.
00:00I'm from China Media Group. I would like to ask, according to a report, local media report,
00:13the report says that the new punitive terrorist from Trump government were caused a sudden
00:23economic shock to Malaysia, not only Malaysia, but of course a sudden economic institutional
00:32shock to the world trade system. So, and for the U.S., this is not only a means of pressure,
00:42but also the beginning of the blackmail. So, what do you think about that?
00:47As I mentioned, thank you very much. As I mentioned, we will continue to engage the
00:53U.S. What is good, in a way, is that the tariff that was announced, the tariff of 25 percent,
01:01will be effective on 1st of August. This gives us time. Initially, the 90 days ended yesterday.
01:09So, we act in good faith. We want a fair and comprehensive agreement for Malaysia.
01:15Today, you have seen many countries face similar challenges. That's why we only see two countries
01:21countries that have concluded some form of agreement with the U.S., but the rest are still in negotiations.
01:27The negotiations will proceed. We will continue. I have contacted my counterpart, U.S. Trade
01:33Representative, Ambassador Greer, yesterday. And tomorrow, we will have a video call with him.
01:40In fact, tomorrow also, the Prime Minister is meeting Mark Rubio. I will be there, the Secretary of State.
01:47So, the engagement will continue. So, it's not about a question that negotiations have failed. It's not
01:53about the questions that this is about Malaysia or the world is facing a crisis. But, of course,
02:01in all negotiations, in all meetings, in all platforms, we continue to reinforce our view that we are
02:08in support of the principles of multilateralism. We believe in the rule-based trading system,
02:15of course, with WTO at its core. So, this is key. But at the same time, during these negotiations,
02:22it's important to note that Malaysia continues to be neutral in its approach, and ASEAN as well.
02:28We believe in ASEAN's centrality and neutrality, and we will continue to engage all parties.
02:33Mr. Stryker, if there were a few examples, why don't you think it's going to be neutral?
02:39That's the question of USTR. We already asked, but we didn't have the answer.
02:42Because this is due to the President of the United States.
02:45Like Japan, why don't you think it's 1%? But we have to look at the context of the discussion.
02:511% is not a number of large numbers. We are still less than a number of countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and so on.
02:59The important thing is that this is not effective yet. Effective on August 1, and we will continue to engage with the discussion.
03:08The important thing is that we cannot compromise if there is a issue regarding the country.
03:16It is a issue that we can make sure that we don't agree with the decision.
03:22This is not only about tariff, but about non-tariff. It is also about undang-undang that we have, undang-undang that we have, that we are important for our country.
03:33We cannot compromise. So, we have to look at it from the same level.
03:38Like I said earlier, if we can, if we can, we can reduce the 25% to the lower than the 25%.
03:47I understand that the lantainya is 10%.
03:51Because of that, the 10% of the country has 10%.
03:53They don't have to be undang-undang with the United States.
03:56So, I and our crew will continue to be undang-undang with the United States.
04:01But, we have to give and take.
04:03If we don't agree, we have to be ready to say that we don't agree with the red line.
04:08The issue of red line is that it is important for us to protect the red line.
04:14What are the specific red lines? You mentioned that it may be policies or what?
04:30Both policies and law. I can't say in detail. I mentioned about one on the digital trade.
04:37We have talked about our ability to impose tax, digital tax. That's a red line.
04:43I think that's our, we feel that that's our sovereignty right.
04:47I can't go into great detail on those issues, but rest assured, we have to stand firm.
04:53And we stood firm on many issues as well.
04:57And to be fair, like I said, some of the issues after elaborating and explaining why, the U.S. has accepted our reasoning.
05:06I want to ask you, we now reached a deal and we got a 50% discount.
05:14I mean, for us, what was the main reason why we couldn't reach a deal?
05:18Well, the main reason is because we need more time. I mean, like I said just now, there are only two countries that have reached a deal.
05:28We don't want to reach a deal for the sake of reaching a deal, right? If we can reach a deal that on balance benefits Malaysia, benefit Malaysian companies, benefit Malaysians, then yes.
05:38But if the deal does not benefit Malaysia, we should not have a deal, right? We have to be firm on that.
05:44We have to go in a negotiating table, not wanting to agree on anything. That's not how negotiation works. It has to be fair, it has to be comprehensive, it has to be inclusive.
