KUALA LUMPUR (July 8): The White House has officially informed Malaysia that a 25% tariff will be applied to all Malaysian products. This was stated in two letters dated July 7, 2025, from US President Donald Trump, sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.

The core rationale behind the 25% tariff, set to take effect on Aug 1, 2025, is to address a “significant trade deficit” that the US currently experiences with Malaysia, said Trump in the letters, that did not differ in content, posted on his Truth Social.

Trump underscored the long-standing trade relationship between the two countries but emphasised the need to transition towards a more balanced and reciprocal framework.

He highlighted Malaysia’s “tariff, non-tariff policies and trade barriers” as contributing to the current imbalance. The letters explicitly states that the 25% tariff is a direct response to this “trade deficit disparity”.

The letters warns that goods transshipped through Malaysia to evade a higher tariff will also be subject to the elevated rate. In an attempt to mitigate these tariffs, Trump presented an incentive: “There will be no tariff if Malaysian companies within your country decide to build or manufacture products within the United States”.

The US government, he assured, would do “everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely” to facilitate such investments.

The US president also issued a clear warning regarding Malaysia’s tariff rates.

He added, “If for any reason you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge”.

Trump asserted that these tariffs are “necessary to correct the many years of Malaysia’s tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers” which have led to an “unsustainable trade deficit”. He declared this deficit a “major threat to our economy and, indeed, our national security!”

The letters conclude with Trump expressing a desire to continue working with Malaysia as a “trading partner for many years to come”. It also conveys his wish for Malaysia to “open your heretofore closed trading markets to the United States” and to eliminate existing tariff and non-tariff barriers.

Trump indicated that depending on the relationship, these tariffs “may be modified, upward or downward”, but stressed that Malaysia “will never be disappointed with The United States of America”.