The United States remained one of Malaysia’s key trading partners in 2024, with total bilateral trade rising by a robust 30% year-on-year to RM325.2 billion, according to the Malaysia Trade Statistics Review (MTSR) 2025 released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Exports to the United States grew 23.3% to RM198.9 billion, while imports surged 42.1% to RM126.3 billion, reflecting strong two-way trade momentum despite uncertainties in the global trading environment. The expansion was underpinned by resilient demand for Malaysian exports across several major product categories.
Chief Statistician of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said MTSR 2025 analyses Malaysia’s trade performance with the United States across five key product groups: electrical and electronic (E&E) products, optical and scientific equipment, machinery, equipment and appliances, rubber products, and wood products.
Electrical and electronic products continued to anchor Malaysia–US trade, accounting for 60.4% of Malaysia’s total exports to the United States in 2024. Semiconductors were the largest contributor, making up 46.8% of E&E exports, followed by telecommunications equipment, sound recording and reproducing equipment (19.4%), electrical machinery, apparatus and parts (17.0%), and office machines and automatic data processing equipment (16.9%).
Malaysia’s exports of optical and scientific equipment to the United States reached a record RM12.9 billion in 2024, marking a 14.3% increase from the previous year. Malaysia was the largest supplier of these products to the US market, accounting for 21.8% of total US imports in this category.
Machinery, equipment and parts also featured prominently among Malaysia’s top exports to the United States, contributing 12.7% of Malaysia’s total exports of these products. Export value in this segment rose 33.6% to RM8.8 billion in 2024, up from RM6.6 billion a year earlier.
Rubber products recorded a renewed upswing in 2024, with exports to the United States rising to RM7.4 billion following declines in 2022 and 2023. While exports peaked at RM22.6 billion in 2021 amid pandemic-driven demand, DOSM noted that Malaysia has successfully transitioned from exporting mainly raw rubber to becoming a global hub for high-value downstream products, particularly rubber gloves and engineering-related goods.
Wood products exports to the United States also showed a resilient recovery. After peaking at RM7.6 billion in 2021 and easing to RM5.4 billion in 2023, exports rebounded to RM6.0 billion in 2024. Over the longer term, the trend remains positive, with exports rising steadily from RM2.9 billion in 2015 to above RM7.0 billion during the 2020–2022 period.
DOSM said the strong performance in 2024 underscores the depth and resilience of Malaysia–US trade ties, supported by Malaysia’s diversified export base and its continued competitiveness in high-value manufacturing and downstream industries.
