Malaysian minister says China and US have ‘global responsibility’ on trade
- Darell Leiking says uncertainty created by conflict has caused shift in region’s supply chain that ‘has already impacted the world for five to 10 years’
- As Beijing and Washington near a deal, he says ‘whatever decision they make, they will have to consider a lot of people’
Malaysia’s top trade official on Saturday said China and the US had a “global responsibility” to consider other countries’ interests, as the world’s two biggest economies near a deal to end their trade war.
Darell Leiking, Malaysia’s international trade and industry minister, also said the uncertainty created by the trade conflict had caused a shift in the region’s supply chain that would have a global impact for years to come.
Leiking’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump on Friday said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit the White House “soon” as there had been higher hopes the two sides could reach a deal to bring their dispute, which has dragged on for nearly a year, to an end. But officials involved in negotiations have also warned that discussions could continue for weeks or even months, and there could still be further escalation.
“The uncertainty on what America and China will do and can do or what they will likely carry on to do, has made a lot of people more careful than ever in the trade and economy,” Leiking said.
The Malaysian trade minister said he recently led a trade delegation to the United States, conveying the Southeast Asian country’s concerns to senior American and Chinese officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, who were holding talks in Washington at the time.
Leiking said he told the Chinese and US officials that “whatever decision they make, they will have to consider a lot of people”.
“Our small economy is minuscule compared to those two. But they would not have reached the way they are today if not for all these economies combined,” he said.
“They have a global responsibility now because both of them, whether they like it or not, will impact everyone in the global value chain and supply chain. The entire economy is connected to both.”
Leiking also said that while other countries had seen both good and bad impacts from the US-China trade war, Malaysia had benefited from American and Chinese companies relocating their businesses to the country to hedge against the risk of the conflict worsening.
The ongoing trade tensions have split opinion among China’s neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. While some worry that the tariff war could further slow the world economy, others have seen a boom in foreign direct investment as companies seek to shift production to the region, including to Malaysia.
China and the US are the two biggest trading partners of Malaysia, a nation that relies on exports of electrical components and auto parts, which account for 23 per cent of its total trade.
Leiking said that as Malaysia braced for the potential impact of a trade deal between Beijing and Washington, it also welcomed the economic boost from Chinese and US firms relocating factories to the Southeast Asian nation.
“A lot of people have come in to Malaysia, restarted what they started before China took a lot of [the manufacturing] away. And some have even moved a huge chunk of their business into Malaysia,” he said.
“Maybe it’s their hope that Malaysia will become the lead in [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] again. And this is what we are trying to reassure them with the new government … right up to our private sectors, everybody wants to rebuild our nation.”
