Malaysia agrees to boost tech, LNG purchases from U.S. as part of trade deal
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will spend up to US$150bil in the next five years to buy equipment from U.S. multinationals for its semiconductor, aerospace and data centre sectors, part of a deal with Washington to cut tariffs, its trade minister said on Monday.
The United States announced last week that it would impose a 19% tariff on Malaysia starting from August 8, lower than a 25% levy threatened last month.
State energy firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) will buy liquefied natural gas worth US$3.4bil a year, while Malaysia will commit to US$70bil in cross-border investments in the United States over the next five years to address the trade imbalance between the two countries, minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz told parliament.
The United States ran a goods trade deficit with Malaysia of US$24.8bil in 2024, government data showed.
Tengku Zafrul said the two countries were finalising a joint statement covering the commitments made, following weeks of negotiations over the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.
"Despite expecting lower tariff rates, the ministry believes that these negotiations have succeeded in achieving a result that is reasonable with the offers made by Malaysia," Tengku Zafrul said.
Other concessions by Malaysia include reducing or abolishing duties on 98.4% of U.S. imports, the easing of some non-tariff barriers, and the removal of a requirement for U.S. social media platforms and cloud service providers to contribute part of their Malaysian revenues to a state fund.
Last week, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia had secured tariff exemptions on its pharmaceutical products and semiconductors exported to the United States, and was seeking further cut-outs for commodities such as cocoa, rubber and palm oil.
On Monday, however, he warned that semiconductor chips may still be subject to additional tariffs under U.S. laws based on national security reasons.
"Therefore, we need to continue to be prepared for any possible additional tariffs imposed on the semiconductor industry," he said. - Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
26 minutes ago
- The Star
US-India tensions cast doubt on future of Quad, as well as possible Trump visit
As trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi escalate, an anticipated high-profile visit of US President Donald Trump to India this fall is now clouded by uncertainty. The rift that is testing a relationship between what their diplomats sometimes tout as the world's oldest and largest democracies is not only weakening bilateral ties, but also casting doubt on the future of a critical Indo-Pacific bloc aimed at countering China's growing influence in the region. The White House has been pressing India for substantive 'deliverables' the 'America first' president could announce during the trip, planned for the Quad leaders' summit in September or October, according to a person familiar with preparations for a summit. Initially, both sides had aimed to finalise a comprehensive trade agreement to coincide with the visit to give the occasion strategic and political momentum. However, the source said that without a trade breakthrough, it is increasingly unlikely that Trump will make the trip. The Quad, which also includes Japan and Australia, was formed in 2004 but remained dormant until 2017. Resurrected by Trump in his first term, the alliance was enthusiastically embraced by former US president Joe Biden as part of his Indo-Pacific strategy. Under Biden, the bloc was elevated to leaders' level in 2021. Trump threatened to 'substantially' increase tariffs for India in the 'next 24 hours' on Tuesday, after having berated India in recent days for making 'massive' oil purchases from Russia. According to another person familiar with Indian thinking, Trump's attacks have left New Delhi 'bitter'. During the five rounds of talks between April 2 and July, New Delhi had sought 'preferential' trade treatment because of its status as a reliable partner to the US in the Indo-Pacific as the Biden administration portrayed India as a democratic regional counterweight to China. However, Trump has remained firm in his demand for full market access, showing little willingness to acknowledge New Delhi's strategic role in countering Beijing's influence, slapping Indian imports with 25 per cent tariffs. Experts say a breakdown in US-India trade negotiations, coupled with potential cancellation of Trump's New Delhi visit, could hand Beijing a strategic Indo-Pacific win. Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for South and Central Asia during Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, said that Trump was 'ignoring the bigger geopolitical picture and the larger challenges to US national security' because of his 'narrow' focus on tariffs and trade balance. Curtis, now director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for New American Security in Washington, said 'the security imperative to counter growing Chinese military power and influence requires the United States to draw countries like India into a closer embrace with the United States, not pick fights to try to gain better market access.' She described the Quad as an effective mechanism to promote activities and policies in the Indo-Pacific that support US interests, such as countering Chinese economic and military coercion, adding that 'if US-India trade talks break down and Trump cancels his visit to India, this would be a clear win for China.' 'The first Trump administration successfully elevated the US-India relationship and built strategic trust and confidence in the relationship. The second Trump administration's lack of strategic perspective on US-India ties threatens to undermine that progress,' Curtis said. According to Wendy Cutler, a former American diplomat and trade negotiator, the growing trade friction between Washington and New Delhi 'calls into question the timing of a Quad Leaders' meeting' and is 'not helpful as preparations are being discussed'. 'The prospect of announcing the successful conclusion of a bilateral trade agreement undoubtedly made a visit to India by the President more compelling than just a Quad Leaders' meeting,' said Cutler, now vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. She added that India and other US trading partners were aware of Trump's fixation with trade and tariffs and there was hope that 'over time issues on strategic cooperation will move to the forefront'. Christopher Clary, a political science professor at the State University of New York's University at Albany, said the Quad is 'less important now for Washington than it was in the Biden administration or the first Trump term'. He said the bloc remains useful to have a 'frequent gathering of the most economically and militarily capable democracies in Asia,' and that if Quad members do not align their strategies 'China will have greater room to enhance its global and regional influence'. Curtis said it is possible the US and India could still conclude a trade deal by September to pave the way for a Trump visit to India in the autumn. 'The prospects for a deal at the moment, however, look somewhat bleak,' she said, adding that Trump's repeated criticisms of India are 'backing Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi into a corner, making it increasingly difficult for him to be seen as making concessions.' According to Manjari Chatterjee Miller, a senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in New York, 'unless Modi and Trump can reach an agreement, this is an incredibly destabilising moment for the US-India relationship, and recovery will be difficult'. She said 'the last thing India wants is for a strong Russia-China relationship to develop at India's expense', adding that the US administrations over the past decade typically overlooked the Russia factor to build a strong relationship with India. 'China indeed could benefit from a tense US-India relationship,' Miller added. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
The Star
26 minutes ago
- The Star
Asian streaming giant iQiyi seeks US$300mil for Hong Kong listing set for this year
HONG KONG (Bloomberg): IQiyi Inc is seeking to raise US$300 million for a listing in Hong Kong this year, potentially becoming the latest US-listed Chinese firm to tap investors closer to home. The Netflix-style streaming service, owned by Baidu Inc., has begun discussions with global banks about a second listing in the city, people familiar with the matter said, asking to remain anonymous discussing a private deal. IQiyi's US stock rose as much as 6% but pared gains to close little changed in New York. IQiyi, which hosts a plethora of content from Chinese period dramas to blockbuster Hollywood films, joins the likes of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. in exploring a second listing in Hong Kong. The company vies with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to rank among the biggest video-streaming platforms in China, with an estimated 400 million-plus monthly active users. Negotiations around a listing are fluid and iQiyi may still reconsider. A company spokesperson didn't provide comment when reached by Bloomberg News. If it goes ahead, the Chinese firm will join a wave of listings that've fueled Hong Kong's revival this year. They helped the city reclaim its standing as the world's second-largest market for share sales for the first time since 2012, reversing a years-long slump following the Covid-19 pandemic. Loosening regulations helped. Chinese companies have propelled that trend - mostly, like CATL, mainland-listed firms. For US-listed Chinese firms such as iQiyi, Donald Trump's return to the White House this year has revived the threat of their stock getting delisted in America, with his administration seeking to determine if they are meeting auditing standards covered by the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. A 2020 US law empowered the Securities and Exchange Commission to order the delisting of Chinese firms if the regulator was unable to inspect their audits for two consecutive years. The legislation was passed after the accounting practices of US-listed companies headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong became a flash point during the first Trump presidency. The concerns were considered resolved in 2022 after US officials said they'd gained sufficient access to review audit documents. Analysts have speculated that companies like iQiyi and PDD Holdings Inc. would consider the idea of a market debut on friendlier ground. Before the pandemic, companies such as Alibaba and Baidu successfully debuted in Hong Kong after initial public offerings in the US. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
The Star
26 minutes ago
- The Star
Exclusive-FBI looks to add drug cartel suspects to terror watch list, government files show
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government's terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters. The bureau told law enforcement agencies in a May 9 email to share the names of people they believe are linked to eight criminal groups President Donald Trump has labeled foreign terrorist organizations. It also asked agencies to share information about family members and associates of the groups' members. The existence of the email, which was obtained by the national security-focused transparency nonprofit Property of the People through a public records request and shared with Reuters, has not been previously reported. The email was sent to law enforcement agencies and groups including the National Sheriff's Association, which confirmed receiving it from the FBI. The FBI declined to answer detailed questions about the email, instead referring to an earlier statement that said "watchlisting is an effective tripwire keeping those who would engage in violent criminal acts, illicit drug trade, and human smuggling/trafficking out of the country." The watch list contained some 1.1 million names, including about 6,000 U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents, as of August 2024, according to a January report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which is the most recent federal data available. The change means that local police officers are likely to see more terrorism alerts when they conduct traffic stops or run background checks using the National Crime Information Center database, the FBI said in the email. The Trump administration in February declared gangs including MS-13, Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa drug cartel foreign terrorist organizations, saying they pose a risk to national security and economic interests. The document, sent by a former FBI assistant director, said that "agencies that possess information about members of these organizations, including their family members and associates, are required to share" it with the National Counterterrorism FBI-led Threat Screening Center would then lead an effort to determine which names should be added. The bureau also told local police that it had recently added 300,000 immigration records to the National Crime Information Center database, including people who are facing administrative warrants for removal from the United States. A state law enforcement office that helps facilitate intelligence sharing between federal, state and local officials issued a bulletin in late July providing instructions about how to submit names for potential inclusion on the watch list, according to a copy seen by Reuters. GESTURES, TATTOOS Civil liberties advocates say the U.S. government sometimes relies on questionable evidence to decide who to include. "The U.S. watch-listing system is already a notoriously error-prone, bloated, due process nightmare and this instruction raises major red flags," said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the government will use every legal avenue available "to prevent terrorists from killing Americans." Designating cartel and gang members as terrorists has the potential to drastically expand the number of people on the watch list. "In the cartel context, when you are talking about people inside the U.S., the watch list's reach becomes even broader because of the way drug trafficking networks play out," said Spencer Reynolds, a former Department of Homeland Security attorney who is now with the Brennan Center for Justice. He said it remains unclear whether low-level gang affiliates who sell or transport drugs would be labeled terrorists, even if they have no idea their work is connected to one of the designated cartels. Civil rights groups have voiced concerns about the secretive nature of the list, which can subject people to surveillance on airplanes, travel restrictions and secondary screenings at airports and other ports of entry into the United States. They have also complained that the government has sometimes flagged people as members of gangs based on evidence such as their tattoos and clothing. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that the list infringed on the constitutional rights to due process of certain U.S. citizens. "If your name pops up in a law enforcement hit, that has all kinds of cascading consequences," said Sirine Shebaya, executive director for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. Authorities must spell out reasonable suspicion that a person is associated with one of the designated terrorist groups before being added to the watch list, according to public government standards. Their friends and associates would not be added automatically unless the government also suspects them of involvement, though there are exceptions to that standard, a former official familiar with the process said. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Board released a report in January with recommendations on how to improve the list's accuracy and reliability. Several days later, the Trump administration fired three of its four board members. "As Trump dismantles the rule of law and targets even mild dissent as security threats, ballooning terrorist watch lists are another glaring indicator of our descent toward authoritarian rule," Property of the People's Executive Director Ryan Shapiro said. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Brad Heath and Jana Winter; Editing by Scott Malone and Mark Porter)
