Malaysia will require trade permits for all high-performance chips meant for artificial intelligence (AI) and sourced from the United States, as Kuala Lumpur scrambles to negotiate down punitive American tariffs set to kick in on August 1.
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Last week, US President Donald Trump slapped a 25 per cent tariff on Malaysia, part of a broader move by the mercurial leader to address what he described as “unsustainable trade deficits” that the world’s largest economy faces with its trade partners.
Trump’s announcement came just weeks after Malaysia affirmed that it “stands firm” against attempts to circumvent US export controls on chips to American rival China, following allegations that Chinese engineers had rented data centres packed with high-end Nvidia chips to train their AI model in the Southeast Asian country.
On Monday, Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said all exports, transshipments and transits of high-performance AI chips of US origin would need to come with a Strategic Trade Permit “effective immediately”.
The new regulation will require individuals or companies to notify Malaysian authorities at least 30 days before moving any items not expressly listed in the Strategic Items List (SIL) – which covers items such as goods and technology that could potentially be used for military applications.
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“This initiative serves to close regulatory gaps while Malaysia undertakes further review on the inclusion of high performance AI chips of US origin into the SIL,” the ministry said in a statement.
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