PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and Asean countries need to come together and form an agreement on the tariffs announced by the United States to ensure that upcoming negotiations and discussions have a solid foundation, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that although the tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump was made on questionable grounds, Asean countries should not take the matter lightly, especially in the current uncertain global economic and political climate.
"Yesterday (April 6), I elaborated at length on the decision of the special committee meeting handling the US tariffs, which was attended by the entire Cabinet.
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"We cannot take this lightly. It is quite unusual, as the country that previously supported the spirit of free trade and established the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) - wealthy countries like the United States - it is now taking a different approach.
"This is what I mean by 'post-normal times', when political and economic policies are implemented unexpectedly, including tariff announcements based on very weak grounds," he said during a speech at the Prime Minister’s Department staff meeting here on Monday (April 7).
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Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof were also present.
Anwar also described the method in which the US administration determined the tariff as flawed, noting that some small islands were included, even though "they are only inhabited by penguins."
Nevertheless, he said the government has chosen to take a moderate approach, given that there is room for discussions and negotiations, and that there are some exceptions that need to be identified in detail.
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"So, my task, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the relevant ministers are to contact our friends in ASEAN so that each country can state its position, but at the same time, we move together as a group.
"We must stand firm together as Asean - with a population of 640 million and an economic strength that is among the top in the world. This region is also considered one of the safest and fastest-growing in the world," he said.
According to Anwar, he had the benefit of dining with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri to discuss the issue, along with other matters such as Gaza and Myanmar.
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"I also had a lengthy discussion with the Vietnamese Prime Minister and, before that, contacted the leaders of the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, and Thailand in order to coordinate our positions."
"With this approach, we want Asean as a group to present a unified stance - demonstrating agreement and building a stronger foundation for upcoming negotiations," he said.
On April 2, Trump announced a series of new tariffs that impacted Asean countries. This move directly increased import duties on several of Washington's Southeast Asian trading partners.
The hardest hit were Cambodia which faced a basic and reciprocal tariff of 49%, followed by Laos (48%), Vietnam (46%), and Myanmar (44%).
Meanwhile, Thailand faced a tariff of 36%, Indonesia 32%, Brunei and Malaysia at 24% each, the Philippines 17%, and Singapore at a basic tariff of 10%. - Bernama
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