Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan revealed that Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar advised him to be especially careful when negotiating tariffs with the United States.
“He said negotiating with the US is very tough. We must understand that Malaysia-US and India-US relations differ, and of course India enjoys a closer relationship with the US.”
However, Mohamad Hasan pointed out that India was previously subjected to a 50% tariff by the US, and only after continuous negotiations was it reduced to 18%.
Mohamad Hasan made this statement in Parliament while responding to a question from Bagan Member of Parliament Lim Guan Eng.
“Malaysia’s tariff was reduced from 25% to 19%, while theirs went from 50% to 18%. A 1% difference doesn’t really matter!”
Lim Guan Eng hoped that Malaysia could learn from India’s experience in order to further reduce tariffs with the US.
Mohamad Hasan stated that Malaysia has its own negotiation policies and emphasized that we cannot look at tariff percentage rates alone. “India also faces other restrictions from the United States in other areas.”
“Their leather is also poor and faces an 18% tariff. The US also restricts India by requiring it to stop buying oil from Russia—a move that will significantly reduce India’s income.”
Currently, he said that a memorandum on Malaysia-US tariffs has been signed, but the details are still up for negotiation; similarly, although there is a framework for India-US tariffs, India will only enjoy the 18% tariff rate after all details have been approved.