FORMER Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has highlighted two developments that may help Malaysia navigate the prevailing economic challenges arising from the Middle East conflict.
Firstly, the DAP adviser asked if Malaysia can reclaim its share of the USD$ 166 billion in export tariffs collected illegally by the US government since 2025.
Can the sum be refunded to the exporting Malaysian companies, Lim queried.
This follows a report by the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Johari Ghani, confirming that the reciprocal trade agreement (RTA) signed between Malaysia and the US last year has been nullified.
This follows the ruling by the US Supreme Court, which deemed the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump to be illegal.
Trump has since said he will impose global tariffs of 15% to replace the tariffs scrapped by the court, after he initially announced a 10% levy on all goods entering the US.
Whether these new tariffs comply with the Supreme Court ruling's requirement to provide valid reasons remains to be seen.
"What is interesting is the fate of an estimated USD$166 billion in tariffs collected over the last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Supreme Court ruled illegal in February 2026."
The courts have ruled that the government must grant refunds not only for all illegally collected tariffs but also pay interest on those payments, Lim noted.
"With the ART now null and void, Malaysian companies forcibly compelled to make tariff payments to the US since last year have a right to claim both a refund and interest on those tariff payments.
The Malaysian government should tabulate how much of the USD166 billion in tariffs collected were paid by Malaysian companies and assist these companies to claim back their tariff refunds and interest."
The refunds can help the country to weather the ill consequences of the war, especially with oil prices scaling up dramatically while living costs also continued to spike at a time when Malaysia marks the Hari Raya celebrations, he noted.
Another positive factor that Lim referenced was the USD$2 billion or 200 billion yen 10-year Samurai bond issued by the Malaysian government in 2019.
The issuance under his previous watch could surprisingly yield a probable profit of RM1.6 billion, even after taking into account all interest paid, due to the depreciation of the yen in favour of the ringgit, Lim said.
Due to the depreciation of the yen against the ringgit, the principal value of the samurai bond has been reduced to its current value of RM5.2 billion, compared to the original issuance value of RM7.2 billion.
The yen had depreciated by 27.8% from RM 3.62 in March 2019 to RM 2.59 for every 100 yen by the end of December 2025.
Based on the end-2025 exchange rate of RM 2.59 for every 100 yen, the principal value of RM 7.2 billion will be reduced to approximately RM 5.2 billion. Malaysia would record a significant foreign exchange gain of RM 2 billion.
After deducting interest payments of RM 400 million, Malaysia can still record a probable gain of RM 1.6 billion, said Lim. - March 16, 2026.
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