Malaysia is making a lot of noise on the palm oil ban by the European Union (EU) to the point that it is now hoping that China – already a major trading partner to Malaysia – would surpass the Europeans in the disputed oil imports.
Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong said Friday that he expects China to become Malaysia’s largest commodity importer in two years, underpinned by more collaboration between the two countries in the commodity sector.
Last week, Mah said Malaysia should ban butter from the European Union (EU), in a tit-for-tat response to the EU’s ban on palm oil used in biodiesel.
In January, he said Malaysia would go tit-for-tat against the EU, thinking of plans on how to boycott EU products entering Malaysia as a means to bend the Europeans from implementing their ban of palm oil products in biodiesel.
On the 17th January, 429 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted for the resolution to ban palm biodiesel from the EU energy mix after 2020.