PUTRAJAYA, April 7- Malaysia and ASEAN countries need to come together and form an agreement on the tariffs announced by the United States (US) to ensure that upcoming negotiations and discussions have a solid foundation, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said that although the tariff announcement by US President, Donald Trump was made on questionable grounds, ASEAN countries should not take the matter lightly, especially in the current uncertain global economic and political climate.

"Yesterday, I elaborated at length on the decision of the special committee meeting handling the US tariffs, which was attended by the entire Cabinet.

"We cannot take this lightly. It is quite unusual, as the country that previously supported the spirit of free trade and established the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) — wealthy countries like the United States — it is now taking a different approach.

"This is what I mean by 'post-normal times', when political and economic policies are implemented unexpectedly, including tariff announcements based on very weak grounds," he said during a speech at the Prime Minister’s Department staff meeting here today.

Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof were also present.

Anwar also described the method in which the US administration determined the tariff as flawed, noting that some small islands were included, even though "they are only inhabited by penguins."

Nevertheless, he said the government has chosen to take a moderate approach, given that there is room for discussions and negotiations, and that there are some exceptions that need to be identified in detail.