Malaysia has secured a ceasefire from the US on palm oil duties

Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Zafrul announced that Kuala Lumpur had secured tariff reductions from Washington. “Through a combination of tariff concessions and commercial commitments, we secured a tariff reduction from 25% to 19%,” Zafrul said. Furthermore, the United States agreed to exempt 1,711 goods from tariffs, including palm oil and pharmaceuticals. These products account for approximately 12% of Malaysia’s exports to the United States. Furthermore, the two countries also signed a critical minerals MoU. Kuala Lumpur called this a “strategic step to enhance supply chain resilience and promote mutual benefit” between Malaysia and the United States. The United States also signed a similar agreement with Thailand. Earlier, analysts predicted that Malaysia’s growing palm oil exports would lead to higher prices. As noted, this was largely made possible by a sharp increase in exports to China, which increased eightfold from a modest baseline, while ...