Don T Forget The Workers In Trade War Talk Says Scholar

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 Vilashini Somiah of Universiti Malaya says the US tariff debates ignore the human cost.
Vilashini Somiah speaking at BBC’s World Questions programme in Petaling Jaya.PETALING JAYA: An academic has criticised the exclusion of women’s and migrant labour from conversations about US tariffs
Universiti Malaya’s Vilashini Somiah, an anthropologist specialising in migration, gender and labour, said the current debate often focuses on geopolitics and corporate interests instead of the factory and construction workers who will feel the impact.
“We are so consumed with the conversation of companies. We’re so consumed about the way America is looking at China and how China is looking at America and where all of us are in between in the Indo-Pacific,” she said during tonight’s recording of BBC World Questions debate at Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre.
“But the fact of the matter is, you can’t move any of these things… if the cost of labour on invisible bodies, particularly, is not acknowledged.”
Vilashini was elected chair of the Southeast Asia Council under the Association for Asian Studies – the leading academic organisation in North America focused on Asia. Her term begins in March 2026.
She said the gendered and migrant dimensions of labour often go unmentioned in trade policies, as these perspectives were not seen as “sexy” or powerful compared to hard diplomacy and economic strategy.
“These are people (holding up economies). These are your mothers, your sisters,” she added.
US president Donald Trump introduced the tariff measures on April 3, imposing a 10% baseline levy on most trading partners and steeper duties on dozens of countries and blocs, including the EU, UK, Canada, Mexico, and China.
Malaysia initially received a 24% tariff rate, excluding electronics, while regional neighbour Cambodia was slapped with a 49% tariff, the heaviest among all Southeast Asian countries. It was followed by Laos (48%), Vietnam (46%), and Singapore (10%).
Malaysia’s exports in manufacturing and palm oil, sectors heavily reliant on migrant labour, were expected to feel the impact.
However, the tariffs shook global markets, leading the White House to delay or soften some of the measures.
Beyond trade diplomacy, deputy domestic trade and cost of living minister Fuziah Salleh said the government was studying how the US tariff package could affect Malaysian households.
“I have also asked for a study to be done on how it will affect the cost of living because that’s basically within our purview,” she said. - FMT

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