In a major announcement last week (2nd April 2025) labelled President Trump’s “Liberation Day”, the U.S. has imposed a 24% reciprocal tariff on Malaysia, starting 9th April 2025. You might be wondering what all the talk about tariffs is and, more importantly, how this affects us Malaysians.
A reciprocal tariff means that if one country charges high taxes (tariffs) on Malaysian goods entering their country, then Malaysia will do the same to that country’s goods entering Malaysia. This means that the 24% reciprocal tariff that Trump imposed on Malaysia results in Malaysian goods being more expensive in the U.S. Unfortunately, that also means American-made items will greatly increase in price when sold to Malaysians.
One American brand that has captured the attention of many Malaysians is Apple. Since Apple outsources some components of the iPhone from various Southeast Asian countries, which are also heavily affected by the new tariffs, it will cost more to send these parts to the U.S. to assemble a device, such as an iPhone. This means Apple would face higher costs, and those extra expenses would likely be passed on to customers worldwide, including Malaysians.
Some economic experts argue that iPhone prices might go up by 43%. To break it down:
- The iPhone 16 is currently priced at USD799 (approximately RM3,530) could increase to USD1,142 (approximately RM5,067) based on the new tariffs.
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB storage, which currently stands at USD1,599 (approximately RM7,147.53), might increase up to USD2,300 (approximately RM10,281).
The announcement sparked mixed reactions from netizens, with some agreeing that the increase in tariffs is a good move for the Malaysian government. A Twitter user (@/sinhongHO) commented, “Malaysia taxes USA goods 47%, I bought an iPhone 15, it means half the money goes into the Malaysian government’s pockets. This tariff war is good, reciprocal tax is only 24%”. However, it’s worth noting that the government have refuted Trump’s claim that Malaysia has set a 47% tariff on the US.
Some also argue that it might be time to switch the Android phones. One Twitter user (@/jf7hive) hopes that the price increase on iPhones will increase so that people who can afford the device will be able to buy it. He continues, “Too many iPhone users nowadays, it’s beginning to look (mainstream) like Android”.
At the time of writing, Apple has not made any statements on the growing concern of the price hike for the international market, but their stock market value continues to drop. Is this reciprocal tariff really a good move for our economy, or could this hit us harder than we expected?
Source: The Edge Malaysia
Alyssa Gabrielle contributed to this article
