KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has urged Chinese companies to refrain from using it as a base to "rebadge" products to avoid U.S. tariffs, its deputy trade minister said on Monday, amid increasing export restrictions and concerns of a U.

Washington is set to restrict exports to Chinese semiconductor manufacturers and certain chipmaking equipment from Malaysia, and Singapore.

A senior trade official cautions Chinese companies to not invest there if they only want to mask their merchandise's country of origin.

There are worries in Malaysia and neighbouring Thailand that disastrous flooding could get worse as more rain comes.

The death toll from the worst floods in decades in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia climbed to at least 12 on Saturday, authorities said, as tens of thousands of people were evacuated due to rising water levels in the past three days.

The National Disaster Command Center online portal said Friday that 84,597 people, from more than 25,000 families, across seven states were evacuated to 488 temporary shelters.