Anwar, who also serves as finance minister, said the government would continue monitoring developments regarding the trade deal and follow up on actions taken by US president Donald Trump, Bernama reported.
“We will continue to monitor the ART closely as the US Supreme Court’s ruling is not yet final, and we are awaiting Congress’s position. Moreover, president Trump can invoke other legal provisions to maintain the tariffs previously imposed,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He also said that the government would continue to protect national economic and trade interests.
He said the government needed space to assess developments and the implications of US executive decisions, particularly concerning Malaysia-US bilateral trade which is valued at RM367.5 billion.
Anwar was responding to a question from Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu) on the government’s position on the US Supreme Court’s declaration that the tariffs imposed by Trump were unlawful.
Yesterday, four PKR MPs – Wong Chen (Subang), Rafizi Ramli (Pandan), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Setiawangsa) and Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya) – urged Putrajaya to immediately suspend all steps and processes for ratifying the ART, signed with the US last year.
They urged the government to publicly disclose the steps and processes it intended to undertake regarding the ratification of the trade deal which Trump signed with Anwar during his visit to Kuala Lumpur for the Asean summit last October.
Anwar had said that the Cabinet would be briefed on the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision after the investment, trade and industry ministry tables a report on the matter on Friday.
Trump had announced that he would impose global tariffs of 15% to replace the tariffs scrapped by the court, after initially announcing a 10% levy on all goods entering the US.
‘Govt, Tengku Zafrul made the right decision’
Anwar also defended the government’s decision, as well as that of former investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, on the signing of the trade deal with the US.
He said the decision to proceed with the deal had already taken national interests into account.
“If you look at the system in the US, the Supreme Court has ruled that the power to impose tariffs lies with Congress. So, we will wait and see,” he added.
Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli previously said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should probe Tengku Zafrul and Anwar for rushing into the US trade deal, a claim Tengku Zafrul has denied.