Trump yesterday announced an immediate 90-day tariff pause for many countries, bringing relief to investors concerned about the global economic impact of US trade policies.

“Malaysia is one of the countries (subject to the pause). It’s a brief respite,” Anwar briefly told reporters after a Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration at Menara Petra here.

The pause came less than 24 hours after the tariffs kicked in. However, Trump has maintained the 10% blanket duty on almost all US imports and hiked tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%.

Earlier today, investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said while he welcomed the development, he was concerned about the continued unpredictability of US trade actions and their potential impact on the global trade landscape, especially for Asean.

The only certainty about Trump’s tariffs is uncertainty, he said.

Tengku Zafrul, who will lead Malaysia’s delegation to Washington to discuss the tariff at the end of the month, said Malaysia would continue its strategy of diversifying trade partnerships, expanding into new markets and strengthening existing ones.

Asean’s member states were the hardest hit by the tariff announced last Thursday, with Cambodia facing a combined 49% tariff, followed by Laos (48%), Vietnam (46%) and Myanmar (44%).

Thailand was subjected to a tariff of 36%, Indonesia 32%, Brunei and Malaysia both 24%, and the Philippines 17%. Singapore faced a baseline tariff of 10%.