Malaysia in talks for 0% chip tariff, minerals deal with Trump
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Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz also signalled a potential critical minerals deal with the US.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said it is negotiating for chips to be spared from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs as it prepares to close a trade agreement with the US on Oct 26.
“It’s zero for now and I hope it continues to be so,” Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. “It is quite an important market for Malaysia.”
Malaysia was hit with a 19 per cent levy on exports to the US and Mr Trump is also mulling tariffs of as high as 300 per cent
The US is Malaysia’s third-largest market for semiconductor exports.
Datuk Seri Zafrul also signalled a potential critical minerals deal with the US when Mr Trump visits Kuala Lumpur for an annual Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
“It is a possibility,” Mr Zafrul said when asked in the on-stage interview at an Asean business summit if Malaysia will be inking such a deal with Mr Trump on Oct 25.
Malaysia has signalled its ambitions in rare earth mining and processing to tap burgeoning demand for the minerals that power electronic devices, electric vehicles and green technologies such as lithium batteries.
It will continue to engage companies from China, Japan, Korea and the US to participate in it, Mr Zafrul said.
Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will partner global firms in downstream rare earth processing, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced earlier in October. BLOOMBERG
