KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — DAP’s Lim Guan Eng today urged the government to halt all cost-increasing policies, warning that additional financial burdens could cripple Malaysian SMEs already strained by the US trade war. Speaking during a special parliamentary sitting, the Bagan MP called for the suspension of planned tax hikes, electricity tariff increases, the floating of RON95 petrol prices, and the rollout of measures like e-invoicing, SST expansion, and EPF contributions for foreign workers.
He also proposed cutting interest rates, saying economic growth must now take precedence as inflation eases. Lim warned that without intervention, SMEs — which currently contribute around 38 per cent to Malaysia’s GDP — could see their share shrink to just 35 per cent. To support struggling firms, he urged the government to implement an economic stimulus and push banks to offer easy loans or restructure existing debt.
He also proposed a mandatory 50 per cent local content rule for foreign investors to safeguard domestic participation in new projects, amid growing complaints of local firms losing out to foreign suppliers. Highlighting the threat of cheap imports flooding the local market due to shifting trade routes, Lim called for stronger enforcement against dumping.
His remarks came shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a RM1 billion SME support package and additional measures to mitigate the economic impact of the 24 per cent US “reciprocal” tariffs imposed under the Trump administration’s new trade policy. The tariffs are currently in a 90-day pause, with a universal 10 per cent rate temporarily in effect.
