Malaysia calls for collective Southeast Asia tariff response

Ram Anand, Bloomberg News on Apr 6, 2025

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Malaysia will lead efforts to coordinate a regional response in Southeast Asia toward U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.

“Malaysia, as Asean chair, will lead efforts to present a united regional front, maintain open and resilient supply chains, and ensure Asean’s collective voice is heard clearly and firmly on the international stage,” Anwar said during a video address posted on his social media channels, including Facebook, late on Sunday.

In a separate post, Anwar said he had a call with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on a collective response by the region. The Malaysian leader also discussed the tariffs with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who flew in on Sunday evening, Anwar said in another Facebook post.

Countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — a collective grouping of ten countries in the region — are among those hardest hit by U.S. tariffs. Vietnam and Cambodia were slapped with 46% and 49% tariff rates, respectively, by the Trump administration, while Malaysia received a 24% rate.

Like its regional peers, Malaysia had opted not to retaliate against the tariffs while seeking engagement, but has refuted the Trump administration’s claim that it imposes a 47% tariff on U.S. goods.

Anwar said the government has set up a geo-economic command center and efforts were already underway to engage the U.S. to find a “mutually acceptable solution.” He said the nation’s response will be “calm, firm and guided by Malaysia’s national interests.”

He reiterated earlier assertions that the country won’t enter into a recession due to the tariffs, but said the government may review its gross domestic product growth targets for this year should the tariffs come into effect on April 9.

“We must acknowledge that this round of sweeping tariffs may just be the beginning of greater challenges to come in the external economy,” the prime minister said.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said the nation still has room to negotiate with the US on tariffs and the central bank can only assess the full impact on inflation after the talks, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported late Sunday.

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(With assistance from Netty Ismail.)