Zafrul lays out follow-up plans post-US tariff deal

Malaysia will roll out three key follow-up actions - an exporter outreach programme, regulatory reform and a nationwide supply chain mapping initiative - following the recent tariff renegotiation agreement with the United States.

A new 19 percent tariff rate was imposed on Malaysia, a six percentage point reduction from the 25 percent reciprocal tariff announced last month.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the agreement, effective Aug 1, was achieved after “months of intense but thorough as well as methodical negotiations” without Malaysia conceding on its “red lines” in key areas.

“Most importantly, we achieved this without conceding on our red lines in key areas,” he said in his keynote address at The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Awards 2025 yesterday.

Zafrul said those red lines included foreign equity limits in strategic sectors, legal safeguards in digital companies, halal standards and many other areas.

“But the key point is that the negotiation package was a full-of-nation offer, not just the government, but all (of you) - many companies contributed to that,” he added.

With the tariff deal in effect, Zafrul said the government is focusing on three key areas, starting with an outreach programme to support industry players and exporters.

“Some of you in this room may be impacted, but again we will engage the whole exporters’ ecosystem, not just the multinationals, but all the small and medium enterprises that are supporting the major exporters,” he said.

Good progress

Secondly, he said the government aims to accelerate industrial reforms by cutting bureaucracy and reviewing regulations to eliminate overlaps, outdated provisions, and irrelevant processes.

“Thirdly, we need to strengthen the resilience of our supply chain by fortifying specific industries’ role in the global supply chain,” he said.

He said Malaysia is making good progress on a supply chain mapping project, which aims to identify every player involved in the economic activities of key industrial sectors.

Zafrul further said that Malaysia’s mid-cap companies, defined as listed companies with a market capitalisation of between RM100 million and RM1 billion, remain critical to the country’s growth ambition under the New Industrial Master Plan 2030.

“For me and for our ministry, we view this award, such as Centurion, as one of the private sector’s contributions to Malaysia’s journey towards becoming a high-income, sustainable and globally competitive nation.

“As of March 31, there are 519 such Centurions. And this speaks volumes about the vibrancy of Malaysia’s mid-cap sector, a sector that is equally critical to our national economic aspirations,” he said.

- Bernama

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