US Secures Export Control Commitments From Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam

The White House released joint statements Oct. 26 about its agreements for “reciprocal trade” deals with each country, which outlines that each nation is committing to address export control evasion and cooperate on investment security. The White House said it plans to "finalize" trade agreements with Thailand and Vietnam in the "coming weeks," and it released what it said are two agreed-to reciprocal trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia, which include more detailed export control and sanctions-related commitments from those countries, including promises to help the U.S. enforce its Entity List and Specially Designated Nationals List restrictions.

Malaysia and Cambodia shall each “cooperate with the United States to regulate the trade in national security-sensitive technologies and goods through existing multilateral export control regimes,” the agreements said. The Malaysia document said the country will “align with all unilateral export controls in force by the United States,” while the Cambodia document said it will “align with relevant U.S. export controls on a case-by-case basis, based on requests from the United States.” Both nations agreed to “ensure that [their] companies do not backfill or undermine these controls.”

Both also agreed to work with the U.S. “with a view to restricting transactions of its nationals with individuals and entities included” on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and Treasury’s SDN List and Non-SDN Consolidated Sanctions List.

Malaysia agreed to create a new “mechanism” to review inbound investments for national security risks, including in connection with critical minerals and critical infrastructure, “consistent with widely accepted international best practices, and shall cooperate with the United States on matters related to investment security.” Cambodia will “cooperate in providing information available to Cambodia, subject to a mutually agreed protocol for confidential information, about investment activity in its territory by third countries with a view toward increasing transparency and cooperation with the United States, including through technical exchanges, on economic and national security matters.”

If the U.S. determines that Malaysia and Cambodia are “cooperating to address shared national and economic security issues,” it will “take such cooperation into account in administering its domestic laws and regulations pertaining to export controls, investment reviews, and other measures,” both agreements said.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in March that he planned to use trade deals to push more American trading partners to impose export licensing rules similar to those imposed by the U.S. (see 2503180041).

The White House also released two memoranda of understanding, with Malaysia and Thailand, that commit each to cooperating with the U.S. on critical mineral supply chains. The nations agreed to promote trade and investment in critical mineral resource exploration, extraction, processing and refining, as well as to “support the transition to open, efficient, secure, and transparent critical minerals and rare earths markets to improve the strength, security, and prosperity of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains” in each country.

The memoranda came as Beijing prepares to implement sweeping new export restrictions on rare earths (see 2510220043).

Along with export-control-related commitments, the U.S. said Thailand will eliminate tariff barriers on 99% of goods; Vietnam will provide preferential market access for “substantially all” U.S. industrial and agricultural exports; Cambodia will eliminate tariffs on 100% of U.S. industrial goods and food and agricultural products; and Malaysia agreed to implement varying rates for U.S. exports, with certain tariffs eliminated in phases.