Tariffs, tycoons and tantrums
Who gets burned and who gets the billions.
I promised regular programming today but there’s just some bits to US president Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on Thursday that I’d like to squeeze in.
Today’s newsletter consists of two infographics comparing the latest Trump tantrums manoeuvres with i) Malaysia’s richest tycoons and ii) top American billionaires.
A breezy Saturday evening read with some visuals.
Some updates before we get to the heart of today’s newsletter. PM Anwar Ibrahim had a phone call with some Southeast Asian leaders, signalling attempts for collective bargaining.
He also told the press that a new Malaysian ambassador to the US will be announced soon as the king had given his consent.
The Industry, Trade and Investment Ministry has also been very careful in articulating Malaysia’s response, including rebutting the claim that we charge 47% tariffs on imported US goods — which we obviously don’t.
All these actions are within expectations.
Now, there was a suggestion to make former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin the Malaysian ambassador to the US.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are people who actually think Khairy is Malaysia’s solution to Trump-induced volatility. This shouldn’t come as a surprise going by the support — from views to sponsorships — around his influencer-podcast business.
But we don’t need a man-child going up against another man-child, what more a political opportunist.
We need someone — be it an experienced diplomat or a special envoy to the PM — who can hold his own in Washington, with our priorities front and centre.
You’re reading a paid version of The Malaysianist, a newsletter on money and power by writer and journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa.
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For the first chart, the sources I used are: Trump’s executive order which contains exemptions as well as tariffed items, Forbes’ Malaysia’s 50 Richest list as well as publicly available information compiled by data scientist Thevesh Theva.
There’s also the cursory research I undertook just to fit these Malaysian tycoons into the broader tariff universe.
The infographic — which contains 17 names out of 50 — looks like this: