Malaysia’s trade minister will travel to Washington next week for a second round of discussions with the U.S. government on tariffs and trade, Malaysian state media reported yesterday.
Speaking to reporters after an event in Kuala Lumpur, Tengku Zafrul Aziz said that he would travel to the U.S. on June 18 for meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and other key officials. He and his delegation will also meet business groups, including the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and the US-ASEAN Business Council, the minister said.
“I will be going to the United States next week, and we will continue in-person negotiations,” Tengku Zafrul said, noting that the two sides have been engaging in online discussions.
Malaysia was hit with a 24 percent “reciprocal” tariff in President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” announcement in early April. While this was significantly lower than most regional competitors, such as Vietnam (46 percent), Thailand (36 percent), and Indonesia (32 percent), it still threatens to worsen the economic instability that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government can ill afford.
The U.S. has been Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner since 2015, and total two-way trade totaled $80.2 billion in 2024. Malaysia’s Central Bank has warned that the turbidity in global trade could lead to weaker economic growth, and in April, it lowered its growth forecast for 2025 from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent. In its latest regional economic outlook report, released the same month, the World Bank also lowered its GDP forecast for the country to 3.9 percent, down from the 4.5 percent prediction it made in October.
The tariffs have been temporarily suspended for 90 days for most countries to allow room for trade negotiations, and will come into effect on July 8.
Tengku Zafrul previously led a high-level delegation to Washington in late April, during which he held talks with Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Bernama reported that during that meeting, the minister “stressed the importance of sustained engagement and reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to finding constructive solutions to the concerns raised by the U.S.”
Malaysia has expressed its readiness to negotiate in four key areas: narrowing the trade imbalance with the U.S., whose trade deficit with Malaysia reached $24.8 billion last year, addressing non-tariff barriers, strengthening technology protection and security, and exploring the potential for a bilateral trade agreement.
In an interview with Reuters last month, following the conclusion of the first round of trade talks in Washington, Tengku Zafrul said he hoped to see “some sort of a conclusion” before the tariff deadline. “We think, at the end of the day, if we can show a win-win solution for both countries, we should come to an amicable agreement,” he said.
Whether or not such an agreement eventuates, Malaysia, like many of its neighbors, has pledged further to diversify its export markets in a bid to reduce its reliance on the U.S. Last month, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council agreed to initiate negotiations on a Malaysia-GCC Free Trade Agreement.
“Through these negotiations, we hope to see increased investments from the GCC into Malaysia, and enhancing access for Malaysian companies to markets in the region,” Tengku Zafrul told the press.