Malaysia Chamber Puts Out the Welcome Mat

(Tire Review) Malaysia apparently sees an opportunity from the tyre tariff tiff between the US and China. According to Bernama new service, the country’s Chamber of Commerce is encouraging Chinese tiremakers to set up plants in Malaysia in a move to avoid the new 35 per cent tariff on exports to the US.

“China buys a lot of rubber from Malaysia as raw material to produce tyres there. If manufacturers set up factories and export from Malaysia, they would avoid the impact of the increased tax,” the deputy chairman of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, Liew Choon Kong told Bernama.

According to Liew, tyres produced in Malaysia by China-based manufacturers would not be considered as being “Chinese,” enabling the tyres to enter the US without the added duty.