Govt looks into US request to ease foreign ownership limits
PETALING JAYA : The government is to consult industry leaders over a US request to relax the limits on foreign ownership of companies in some sectors, says investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul said the US had asked Malaysia to consider liberalising the foreign shareholding restrictions in force on some sectors. Many other nations have also received the same request from the US, he said.
The minister said the government would need to consult industry leaders in strategic sectors to determine whether these sectors were ready for the caps on foreign equity to be lifted.
'We need to carefully study its potential impact,' he said.
Tengku Zafrul pointed out that some sectors did not have such restrictions, while the manufacturing industry was 'nearly all open'. However, foreign equity limits are still being imposed on strategic sectors, he said.
'As you know, Malaysia has equity restrictions for foreign shareholders in certain sectors. There's a request for us to relook or liberalise those sectors. We need to consult those industries, on whether we are ready to relax those equity shareholding restrictions,' he said.
However, not all the US requests would be accepted, he said. 'Some of the requests, we feel, may not be fair to Malaysia.'
He said trade officials were working to meet US president Donald Trump's new tariff deadline of Aug 1, 'but not at the expense of agreeing to every request'. The Trump administration has said a 25% tariff would be imposed should talks on a trade deal fail.
Flexibility on tariffs
Tengku Zafrul said there might be room for flexibility on a sector-by-sector basis. 'There will be opportunities for us to negotiate tariffs below 10% for certain sectors. But at the same time, we cannot depend solely on this trade negotiation.'
He pointed to the current status of key sectors such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, on which no tariffs are imposed.
'For example, pharmaceuticals are in a better position. Right now, tariffs for both the semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors are at zero. Naturally, we want to maintain that 0% tariff, but whether we can secure it is another matter.'
On the potential impact of tariff changes on the Johor-Singapore special economic zone, Tengku Zafrul said investors were holding off until there was greater clarity.
'There seems to be a wait-and-see attitude. Investors are watching how the tariff scenario plays out before recalculating their positions. That calculation can only happen once there's certainty.'
Another discussion would be held this week, with talks to be accelerated until the end of the month, he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
14 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Rangebound patterns tighten rupee's correlation with Indian stocks
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee and local equities have been increasingly moving in sync over the past month as muted portfolio flows alongside lingering uncertainty over US tariffs continue to cloud investor sentiment. The rupee's 30-day correlation with the benchmark Nifty 50 index has tightened to 0.66, the highest level since mid-May, pointing to the currency's increased sensitivity to moves in local stocks. On the day, the Nifty 50 was down about 0.6 per cent, while the rupee dipped to last quote at 86.2025 per US dollar as of 10:50 am IST, down 0.1 per cent. Local equities diverged from regional peers, led by losses in financial stocks. Asian currencies, meanwhile, were trading mixed and the dollar index was little changed at 98.5. Amidst the largely rangebound moves, the rupee's 1-month implied volatility has eased to a near one-month low of 4.2 per cent, while the stock volatility gauge, India VIX, has retreated to 11.6 from around 14 a month earlier. Foreign portfolio flows, a key driver for both the rupee and local stocks, have also been muted, contributing to rangebound price action, a trader at a state-run bank pointed out. Both the local equity and FX markets are "lacking a clear direction right now," said Apurva Swarup, vice president at Shinhan Bank India, referring to the rangebound moves. News on the US-India trade deal would be key to watch, as it could push stocks and the rupee to move out of their prevailing ranges, Swarup added. The United States is very close to a trade deal with India, US President Donald Trump said earlier this week. Country-specific reciprocal tariff rates on exports to the US are slated to go into effect starting Aug 1. On the day, dollar bids from foreign and local private banks weighed on the rupee, with traders also pointing to heightened demand to buy dollars at the daily reference rate.
New Straits Times
14 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Palm tracks rival edible oils higher, heads for third weekly gains
JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures traded higher on Friday and headed for a third consecutive weekly gain, tracking the rise in rival edible oils at Dalian and Chicago markets. The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained RM80, or 1.9 per cent, to RM4,290 (US$1,010.84) a metric ton by the midday break. The contract has gained 2.78 per cent this week. "Palm oil prices rose supported by strength in Chicago soyoil and Dalian palm and soyoil futures, alongside expectations of a weaker ringgit due to a strong U.S. dollar," said Darren Lim, a commodities strategist at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Nova. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 0.94 per cent, while its palm oil contract increased 1.53 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.78 per cent. Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.05 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. According to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for the July 1-15 period fell 5.3 per cent from June 1-15, while cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported a 6.2 per cent drop. Meanwhile, Malaysia has hiked its August crude palm oil reference price, raising export duties to 9 per cent from 8.5 per cent in July. Indonesia's biodiesel consumption reached 7.42 million kilolitres this year, as of July 16, 47.5 per cent of 2025's allocation. Indonesia's plantation fund agency estimates levies collected on palm oil will touch 30 trillion rupiah (US$1.84 billion) this year, enough to finance the country's biodiesel mandate. Palm oil may retest resistance at RM4,316 per metric ton, a break above which could lead to a gain into RM4,354 to RM4,392 range, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Malay Mail
14 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Pop Mart's Labubu can't lift China's economy alone — Beijing readies ‘plentiful' stimulus toolbox
BEIJING, July 18 — China is prepared to take measures and has a 'plentiful' toolbox to avoid an economic slump in the second half of the year, its commerce minister said today as he admitted it faced a 'very severe and complex situation'. Growth hit 5.2 per cent in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, but analysts have warned that more must be done to boost sluggish domestic consumption as exports face the knock-on effects of global trade turmoil. Retail sales rose far less than expected last month and were much weaker than May, suggesting efforts to kickstart consumption have fallen flat. 'We are still facing a very severe and complex situation. Global changes are unstable and uncertain. Some of our policies will provide some new responses according to the times and circumstances,' Wang Wentao told journalists at a news briefing. 'Our toolbox is plentiful, and we will be fully prepared.' Asked specifically about China's reliance on exports, Wang suggested the government was preparing policies to 'further stimulate the momentum of our consumption development'. 'China's economy is improving, and the long-term fundamentals have not changed, the consumption market's characteristics of great potential, strong resilience and vitality have not changed,' he said. Wang also namechecked Beijing-based toymaker Pop Mart, whose Labubu monster dolls have become a must-have item internationally, adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa. 'We are also promoting new forms of consumption... for example Pop Mart, these kinds of new trends, new fashions and styles... the Labubu phenomenon has swept the world,' he said. US decoupling 'impossible' Beijing is battling to shift towards a growth model propelled more by domestic demand than the traditional key drivers of infrastructure investment, manufacturing and exports. That desired transformation has become more urgent since Donald Trump came to office. The US president has imposed tolls on China and most other major trading partners, upending trade norms and endangering Beijing's exports at a time it needs them more than ever to stimulate economic activity. The two superpowers have sought to de-escalate their row after reaching a framework for a deal at talks in London last month, but observers warn of lingering uncertainty. Wang said today that despite 'storms and rain', Washington remained an important trading partner. Even though China-US trade has declined proportionally for each country, overall bilateral trade has remained stable, Wang said. The firm economic and popular basis for US-China cooperation 'makes artificial decoupling and severing supply chains impossible', he said. Yet an inconsistent tune has 'severely impacted and disrupted normal trade cooperation between China and the United States'. Since Trump's first term, 'the trend of the trade frictions provoked by the United States has had ups and downs', Wang said. — AFP
