The United States has announced a 25% blanket tariff on all Malaysian products entering its market, with effect from August 1 2025, according to a letter from President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform.
This new tariff, one percentage point higher than the 24% rate first revealed in April, is separate from existing sectoral duties and is aimed at narrowing what Trump described as a trade deficit disparity with Malaysia.
“There will be no tariff if Malaysian companies choose to build or manufacture in the United States, and we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely, in a matter of weeks,” Trump stated.
The letter also warned that if Malaysia retaliates with its tariffs, those rates will be added on top of the US-imposed 25%.
Malaysia has been in ongoing negotiations with Washington since April in an effort to reduce the earlier-announced tariff, with the latest round of talks held on June 18.
The announcement comes just as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN-US Post Ministerial Conference and the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which begins today.
