KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday hisexports-reliant country could be hit with trade sanctions amid risingprotectionism highlighted by the US-China tariff war.
Mahathir did not mention the source of possible sanctions on the SoutheastAsian country but said he was disappointed that proponents of free tradewere now indulging in restrictive trade practices on a “grand scale”.
“Unfortunately, we are caught in the middle,” he told a conference in thecapital Kuala Lumpur, referring to the U.S.-China trade war.
“Economically we are linked to both markets, and physically we are alsocaught in between for geographical reasons. There are even suggestion thatwe ourselves would be a target for sanctions.”
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The United States and China were two of the three biggest exportdestinations for Malaysia between January and August this year. Singaporewas the top destination.
To cushion the impact of the collision between the superpowers, Mahathirsaid Malaysia was collaborating more with its regional neighbours.
