Malaysia Says Trade Deal with U.S. Is Off

JAKARTA - Malaysia stated that its trade agreement with the United States was no longer valid after the US Supreme Court overturned the legal basis for the reciprocal tariffs previously used by Washington. The statement was made by Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Johari Ghani, as reported by Business Today on March 15, 2026 and also quoted by a number of Malaysian media.

The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between Malaysia and the US was signed on October 26, 2025. In the scheme, the tariff on Malaysian goods to the US market fell from 47 percent to 24 percent, then 19 percent, while a number of products received zero percent import duties. In return, Malaysia opened wider market access and gave a number of policy concessions to the US.

The problem arose after the US Supreme Court on February 20, 2026 ruled that IEEPA did not authorize the president to impose such tariffs. With the ruling, the legal basis that supports Trump's tariff policy collapsed.

After the ruling, Trump continued to put pressure on trade with other channels. He applied a 10 percent tariff for all countries for 150 days, then stated that the tariff would be changed to 15 percent. At the same time, Washington also opened new trade investigations against many countries.

Kuala Lumpur considers that the agreement no longer has the same footing as when it was signed. The Global Trade Research Initiative believes that this situation could encourage other countries to review similar agreements with the US, because the promised tariff benefits have disappeared, while trade pressure from Washington remains on track.