KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has yet to receive any indication that the United States (US) plans to impose tariffs on its semiconductor exports, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said.
He said the government had not received any notification from Washington suggesting that Malaysian semiconductor products would be subject to tariffs.
"At this point, there is no indication that the US will impose any tariffs on semiconductors from Malaysia," he told reporters at a press conference during EU-Malaysia Business Day 2026: Selangor in Focus here today.
Johari was responding to a question on whether Malaysian semiconductor products would continue to be exempt from US tariffs.
He had also previously said that Malaysia was seeking to diversify its electrical and electronics (E&E) value chain, broaden its economic growth drivers and expand export markets to reduce its vulnerability to downturns in the global semiconductor cycle.
Under the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 and National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS), the government is focusing on higher value-added, technology-intensive activities such as integrated circuit design and advanced packaging.
Commenting on Malaysia's trade negotiations with Washington, Johari said discussions under Section 301 covered four main areas, namely forced labour, excess production capacity, environmental standards and government subsidies.
He said Malaysia was in a favourable position on environmental compliance and government subsidies, noting that the country did not subsidise companies specifically to support exports to overseas markets.
"On the environmental front, we are in a good position as we safeguard the environment and comply with the requirements set by developed economies.
"On government subsidies, our position is clear because we do not provide subsidies to companies to export to other countries," he said.
Johari said the forced labour issue had also been resolved, with Malaysia subject to a 10 per cent rate, compared with 12.5 per cent for some other economies, as outlined in his explanation of the negotiations.
However, he said excess production capacity remained an outstanding issue, although Malaysia maintained that it did not have a domestic overcapacity problem.
He said any excess capacity associated with goods exported from Malaysia could originate from third countries rather than local production.
He maintained that Malaysia had no domestic overcapacity, adding that any excess capacity linked to exports from the country would originate from third countries rather than local production.
Johari also said Malaysia wanted the US to identify the countries it believed were responsible for excess capacity so that appropriate action could be taken.
He noted that countries had their own laws and requirements governing access to their domestic markets, which exporters must meet to maintain access to international trade.
He said Malaysian exporters must comply with each country's regulations and market-entry requirements to gain access to its market.
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