Malaysia has urged Chinese companies to refrain from using it as a base to “rebadge” products to avoid US tariffs, Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong (劉鎮東) said yesterday, amid increasing export restrictions and concerns of a US-China trade war.
Washington is expected to further curb exports to Chinese semiconductor toolmakers and sales of certain chipmaking equipment, including products manufactured in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, sources have said.
Malaysia is a major player in the semiconductor industry, accounting for 13 percent of global testing and packaging, and is seen as well-placed to grab further business in the sector as Chinese chip firms diversify overseas for assembling needs.
Photo: AFP
“Over the past year or so ... I have been advising many businesses from China not to invest in Malaysia if they were merely thinking of rebadging their products via Malaysia to avoid US tariffs,” Liew told a forum.
He did not specify the types of businesses.
Liew said regardless of whether the US had a Democratic or Republican administration, the world’s largest economy would impose tariffs, as seen in the solar panel sector.
Washington imposed tariffs on solar exports from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia — home to factories owned by Chinese firms — last year and expanded them in October following complaints from manufacturers in the US.
US president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to slap an additional 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports when he takes office on Jan. 20.
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