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Guess what, everybody? The United States just announced a fresh wave of targeted tariffs overnight ranging from 10% to 12.5% on 60 countries – and Malaysia falls in that 10% category.
Here’s a quick rundown of what just went down and how this affects us.
What’s The Deal With The New Tariffs?
You might’ve heard of this, but earlier in February, the US Supreme Court basically told the White House that Trump’s existing global tariffs were illegal.
So Trump, of course, sidesteps the court by imposing a temporary 10% global duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act 1974 for 150 days, set to expire on 24 July 2026 (that’s today, at the time of writing).
And now, to keep the tariffs going seamlessly, the US is putting in place a tiered tariff system after a months-long investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974.
Long story short, any country that the US Trade Representative finds using ‘forced labor’ or doesn’t have laws prohibiting it will kena the tariffs.
There are exemptions and mechanisms for apparels in place as well, but let’s shelve them for this article because things are already complicated enough.
How Do The New Tariffs Affect Us?
According to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the new duties will come into force at 12:01am New York time on July 24 2026.
- 10% Rate: Applied to 17 economies – including Malaysia, Canada, Mexico, India, Indonesia, and the UK – that have adopted, or committed via trade agreements to adopt and effectively enforce bans on forced-labour imports.
- 12.5% Rate: Imposed on remaining economies lacking such commitments. Certain major partners (such as the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) have duty structures capped at 10% or 12.5% net of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rates to honor existing trade pacts.
In terms of our economy, analysts are calling this round “more noise than shock” because the overall tax rate stays roughly the same.
Then again, that’s no reason to relax just yet, as there are talks that the White House is still finishing another big probe into global manufacturing capacity, which could mean more stacked duties down the road, and potentially worse export numbers for Malaysia.
But we shall see.
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