Kuala lumpur: The United States will give special consideration to Malaysia’s semiconductor sector in tariff negotiations under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962, stated Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong. He clarified that these tariffs are sectoral and were not included in the recent Malaysia-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Liew explained that the ART does not encompass sectoral tariffs, and semiconductors are covered under Section 232, which will be assessed by the US Secretary of Commerce. The negotiations were conducted with the US Trade Representative (USTR), he added during a session in the Dewan Rakyat.

Liew was addressing a supplementary query from Datuk Ahmad Amzad Mohamed @ Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu) regarding the ART’s impact on the semiconductor sector. Additionally, when asked by Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh) about halal certification post-ART, Liew assured that the approval process for importing halal products from the US remains unchanged.

He emphasized that imports must adhere to Malaysia’s halal standards and comply with the Trade Descriptions Act (Trade Descriptions (Halal Certification and Labelling) Order 2011) for domestic trade. Liew elaborated that these regulations require only halal products certified by US bodies recognized by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and meeting Malaysia’s halal requirements to be approved for export.