00:00Welcome back. Malaysia avoids potential tariffs of up to 100% by signing the Malaysia-US Reciprocal Trade Agreement,
00:08according to Investment Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
00:13He warns that such increases would severely damage Malaysia's export sector,
00:18leading to business closures, job losses and economic hardship for Malaysians.
00:24If this agreement is not signed immediately, Malaysia faces the risk that the US government will raise the price again.
00:31the original tariff rate of 24% or a much higher rate, 30%, 40%, 50%, or perhaps 100%.
00:39We know the US is capable of acting decisively and has proven this in negotiations with other countries.
00:47If this agreement is not prioritized, it is likely that the tariff rate will be higher.
00:52and will at the same time affect Malaysia's export appeal to the US market.
00:57Who will bear this burden later?
01:00Who will indemnify and gulotika?
01:02Our company too.
01:03Who will lose their jobs and income?
01:06Malaysians too.
01:07Under the new agreement, Malaysia will open its market to US products such as chemicals, machinery, vehicles and agricultural goods.
01:16In return, the US will maintain a 19% reciprocal tariff on Malaysian exports, with some products enjoying zero tariffs.
01:23Ngu Zafrul also dismissed claims that the agreement undermines Malaysia's economic sovereignty or forces the country to comply with US trade sanctions,
01:31calling such allegations a distortion of the facts.
01:35He said critics had misunderstood Article 5.1, which some claimed obliges Malaysia to mirror US trade restrictions and sanctions against other nations.
01:44Zafrul clarified that Malaysia is only required to act when both countries share common economic or security concerns,
01:50stressing that if an issue affects only the United States, Malaysia has no obligation to follow suit.
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