Anwar Should Emulate Singapore Pm S Honesty On Us Tariffs Syed Saddiq

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PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should be honest about the US tariffs' impact on Malaysians, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) said.
During a special parliamentary sitting on the tariffs, Syed Saddiq urged Anwar to emulate Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who said the tariffs would “significantly impact” the republic’s economic growth.
“I understand that the prime minister had good intentions when he said that many sectors in Malaysia will be exempted, such as the electrical and electronics, and semiconductor sectors. 
“But I think that we need to be honest and sincere in explaining what will actually happen because with honesty and sincerity, this will eventually reach the people and the people will know that although there may be hardship and turmoil in a short period of time, but with sufficient assistance, Malaysia can progress and rise again to a better situation,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
On April 3, US President Donald Trump announced that all imports into the US would be slapped with a baseline 10 percent tariff.
Starting April 9, the US will impose higher tariffs at “half” the purported amount that is imposed by other countries on US exports.
The move saw the US slapping “reciprocal tariffs” of 24 percent on Malaysia.
Wong reacted to this by issuing a prime ministerial and financial ministry statement saying that Singapore may face a recession this year.
‘Inaccurate assessment’
Syed Saddiq said Anwar’s assessment that Malaysia will not be too affected by the tariffs is inaccurate.
He pointed to the solar industry, which will face tariffs on solar cell and panel imports.
On April 21, Reuters reported that US trade officials have finalised “steep tariff levels” on a majority of solar cells from Southeast Asia.
Syed Saddiq also questioned if the billions of dollars in investments promised to Malaysia have been affected by the announcements of the tariffs.
“Will these investments be affected? And if so, what follow-up action will we take?” he asked.
In his speech earlier, Anwar had cited last year’s approved investments of RM378.5 billion as a reason for Malaysia’s strong economic foundation to weather the tariffs.
Syed Saddiq was also sceptical that Malaysia would be able to attract Chinese tourists as part of its Visit Malaysia 2026 tourism campaign.
“It is clear with this trade war that the purchasing power of Chinese citizens will be affected badly... and they may not be able to come to Malaysia.
“What is our next step?” he said.
Will Petronas-S’wak dispute spread?
He also commented on US oil giant ConocoPhillips pulling out from a major deepwater oil and gas project off Sarawak.
“In (ConocoPhillips') withdrawal, it stated that the withdrawal happened due to uncertainty of the agreement between Petronas and Petroleum Sarawak Bhd,” he said.
He expressed worry that issues such as these would spread to other companies in Malaysia.
ConocoPhillips reportedly withdrew from operating the deepwater Salam-Patawali oil and gas project off Sarawak, worth an estimated RM13.7 billion.
The decision to pull out was allegedly driven by regulatory uncertainty from ongoing disputes between Petronas and the Sarawak government. - Mkini

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