Trump to announce tariff rate for Malaysia on Aug 1, will attend ASEAN Summit in October: Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: United States President Donald Trump will announce the tariff rate for Malaysian imports on Friday, said Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, confirming on Thursday (Jul 31) that he had spoken to Trump.

“(Hopefully] tomorrow’s general tariff rate won’t be a burden to our economy,” Anwar said.

Malaysia is facing a 25 per cent tariff rate on its goods exported to the US, but The Straits Times reported official sources saying a deal to lower the rate to a maximum of 20 per cent, or as low as 15 per cent, should be announced by Friday.

Anwar’s update comes days after he hosted peace talks between Thailand and Cambodia in Putrajaya, where a ceasefire was reached after armed conflict between both sides over a border dispute that killed over 40 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The talks were co-organised by the US, with Trump dangling the carrot of trade negotiations to nudge Thailand and Cambodia to halt armed attacks.

Trump also said he would attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit that will be held in Malaysia from Oct 26 to 28, according to Anwar.

In July at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ summit and related meetings, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first trip to Asia since taking office. He attended the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum alongside counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and Southeast Asian states.

Rubio also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as their countries vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of simmering tension over a US trade tariffs offensive.