Trump Signs Malaysia Trade Deal With Anwar During Asia Trip

Under the agreement, Malaysia will provide “significant preferential market access” for US chemicals, machinery and electrical equipment, metals, and passenger vehicles, as well as agricultural exports. The

Southeast Asian nation will also address barriers impacting digital trade, services, and investment.

Malaysia won’t ban or impose quotas on exports to the US of critical minerals or rare earth elements. It also committed to the expeditious development of its critical minerals and rare earths sectors in partnership with US companies, including granting extended operating licenses.

The Southeast Asian nation has signaled its ambitions in rare earths mining and processing to tap burgeoning demand for the minerals that are used in everything from electric vehicle batteries to defense manufacturing.

The US and Malaysia also noted in the agreement recent and forthcoming commercial deals between their nations’ companies, including the purchase of semiconductors, aerospace components, and data center equipment with an estimated value of $150 billion. The deals also included the purchase of coal and telecommunications products and services valued at $204.1 million and capital fund investments in the US of $70 billion.

“The trade deal with Malaysia will likely be used to encourage and pressure other deals in the region,” Dan Kritenbrink, a partner at the Asia Group and former US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said before the signing of the agreements.

The circumstances of Sunday’s event with Anwar encapsulated the way in which Trump has made tariffs and trade a central tool in his second term.

Earlier in the day, he participated in a signing ceremony between Thailand and Cambodia, focused on de-escalating their recent border clash that left dozens dead. The brief conflict earlier this year halted after Trump threatened to sink trade deals with both countries.

Trump also announced a broad trade agreement with Cambodia and a critical minerals pact with Thailand, though the latter was mostly an aspirational pledge to work together. The Cambodia deal will see hundreds of types of goods exempted from the reciprocal tariff rate on exports imposed by Trump earlier this year.

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals