In a Facebook posting, an upbeat Tengku Zafrul said: “Arrived in Washington DC to fight for Malaysia! Seeking a fair and equal trade settlement.”
He said the Miti team had discussed the latest strategies to strengthen the Malaysia-US trade relationship.
“Hard work and proper planning are essential for positive results. We are committed to finding the best solution for the common good,” he added.
He revealed he held a “productive discussion” with US ambassador Matt Murray at the State Department.
A Miti spokesperson said Tengku Zafrul and his team are scheduled to meet US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
On April 2, Trump imposed a 10% import tariff on all trade partners along with “reciprocal tariffs” on a host of countries with large trade surpluses with the US. Malaysia was slapped with a 24% reciprocal tariff, lower than other Asean nations like Vietnam (46%), Cambodia (49%) and Indonesia (32%).
Trump has since backed down on his tariffs, pausing its implementation for 90 days for all affected nations except China which now faces a 145% tariff.
Hard bargaining
The US side will undoubtedly drive a hard bargain during the tariff negotiations, and news reports indicate the Trump administration is already pressuring other countries to isolate China.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was seeking to use tariff talks with some 70 countries to push them to curb trade with China and rein in Beijing’s manufacturing dominance. In return, these nations could secure reductions in US levies and trade barriers.
In response, China issued a stark warning to countries against striking trade deals with the US at its expense, ratcheting up the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
A spokesperson for China’s ministry of commerce said on Monday that Beijing will take “countermeasures in a resolute and reciprocal manner” against nations that align with the US against it.
This development presents a huge challenge to Tengku Zafrul’s team as China is Malaysia’s largest trading partner and will not want to jeopardise its good relations with Beijing.
However, Malaysia may find itself between a rock and a hard place if Washington forces it to choose sides in its geopolitical and economic contest with Beijing.
Meanwhile, University of Nottingham Malaysia associate professor Tricia Yeoh said it is “getting trickier” for Malaysia to remain neutral.
“Malaysia has always applied this principle of neutrality. However, it is getting more difficult as (US trade) policies are getting more inconsistent, and this puts Malaysia, and other Asean countries, in a very difficult position to rely on the US as a reliable trading partner,” she said in an interview with CNBC.
“If Washington is open to discussions and negotiations, we hope Malaysia can still maintain good relationships with both sides of the divide,” she said, adding the US would not stand to gain from losing allies within this region.