“CONGRATULATIONS YB Tengku Zafrul. Got a luxurious visit, finished jogging next to the White House but the outcome? Truly sad,” penned Malaysian Indian People Party national youth chief Justin Prabakaran Kalaichelvam on his Facebook page.
“At the end of the day, our tariff was raised from 24% to 25%. Other countries get discounts but we get (to pay) more. What was discussed there? Tariffs or teh tarik?
“Truly an extraordinary achievement. If this the case, it’s better to just stay home. Save the rakyat‘s money.”
Such and similar reactions can be found across all social media platforms as detractors poured scorn on Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz who made two trips to Washington for talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer between April 24 and June 19.
During that period, some three to four rounds of trade negotiations were held to pacify the US to reduce reciprocal tariffs imposed on Malaysia ahead of the expiry of the then temporary exemption on July 8.
Jerantut MP from PAS Khairil Nizam Khirudin took a swipe at the unfruitful trade mission of the former technocrat finance minister as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“Hellloooooo … Are you okay, Tengku Zafrul? Is the 1% tariff hike on Malaysia worth the cost of the Malaysian delegation’s visit to the US?” teased the PAS lawmaker who is an engineer by training.
“P/S: PMX doesn’t want to video call the US President to discuss? 👀?”
Higher rate for BRICS involvement
On a more serious note, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing (FMM) has expressed deep concern over the latest US move which will see a 25% blanket tariff imposed on all Malaysian products entering the US market effective Aug 1.
“The manufacturing sector is already reeling from the earlier 10% US tariff and escalating domestic cost pressures, including the expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST) and electricity base tariff revisions which will most impact the high voltage customers,” lamented FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai.
“This latest escalation risks further de-stabilising an already fragile industrial landscape, severely impacting export competitiveness and placing additional strain on manufacturers.”
The sore point insofar as Malaysia is concerned is that nine other ASEAN member countries either have their reciprocal tariffs reduced (Indonesia and Thailand) or have unchanged rates with Vietnam enjoying the biggest reduction to 20% from 46% previously.
Tengku Zafrul aside, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also received fair share of shelling by economic-savvy Malaysians for his “weak trade talks with the US.
“Despite diversification efforts with China & EU, Trump’s trade deficit focus hit hard. On-going talks haven’t eased the impact on Malaysia’s exports.”
Human resource practitioner/consultant David Wong (@davidwong27) warned that the 25% may eventually become 35% if Malaysia continues “to support or being part of BRICS”, alluding to PMX’s keen interest in pursuing economics, trade and investment co-operation with BRICS economies which also feature Chins and India.
While the Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) will be holding a media conference at 6pm today (July 9) to address the 1% hike in Malaysia’s reciprocal tariff rate, a mix of brickbats and applause for having tried his best have continued to fill PKR-bound Tengku Zafrul’s Facebook wall. – July 9, 2025
