Chinese companies are looking for assurances from Malaysian officials that they will be able to avoid US tariffs if they move their operations to the country, The Financial Times reports. The companies — which include battery, medical device, and semiconductor firms — are calling on Malaysian ministers to lobby the US against imposing tariffs on Chinese-made or assembled projects coming out of Malaysia. “They want guarantees but it is impossible for us to provide them with that,” a Malaysian government official told the FT. “We can and do lobby but there is no way [of knowing] what the US will do in the future. We are still trying to work that out ourselves.”

Finding a way around the tariffs: Several Chinese companies have already shifted production to Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia to avoid the tariffs.

Thelo Group eyes expansions in Africa’s rails and ports: African firm Thelo Group is set to acquire a 49% share in South Africa’s Deutsche Bahn AG and is in talks with financiers to raise USD 250 mn to help the company develop rail lines and ports in sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomberg reports. The move comes as African countries seek investments in rail and ports to increase exports of metals and agro products and cut costs as 80% of African goods are currently transported by road.

Even more project ahead: Thelo currently operates trains in Tanzania, Zambia, Eswartini, and Mozambique, and is in discussions to win multi USD bn contracts for rail and port network development in two other African nations.

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