Businesses in Southeast Asia want greater access to US markets and fairer terms in new trade agreements, but these must be balanced against their broader impact on the region.
Commenting on the ongoing trade talks between the US and Asean members, Asean Business Advisory Council (ABAC) chairman Nazir Razak said the “wish list” of businesses in Malaysia and across Asean was straightforward.
“They are very standard kinds of asks, essentially what we had before — access to US markets and minimising tariffs,” he told FMT.
But he cautioned that trade deals with Washington also needed to ease the demands on Asean member economies, especially since such agreements could not be viewed in isolation.
“There’s still a lot of grey (areas) in terms of the US on zero tariffs from outside, and what that means with other…