MALAYSIA-US FTA HANGS IN THE BALANCE

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Bernama) – The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation
between Malaysia and the United States now hangs in the balance after the US
said it is now giving priority to regional economic association.

The US administration is now looking at the still new Trans-Pacific
Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP), formerly known as P4, an alliance
initially involved Brunei, Singapore, Chile and New Zealand, and now seems to
get the interest of other countries too like Australia, Peru and Viet Nam.

The US was scheduled to have the first round of negotiations on TPP last
March, but it had been postponed to allow the US administration time to conduct
a general review of US trade policy.

"It looks like the US is giving the bilateral cooperation a low priority,"
International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed told the
Malaysian press in a media conference here.

He said the new US stand on the matter was conveyed to him when he met US
Trade Representative Ron Kirk on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting which ended Thursday.

The minister said he met Kirk to seek clearer explanation on the US position
on regional free trade agreement especially the TPP, which the US was looking at
seriously.

However, Mustapa said Malaysia would not back out from the negotiation and
was still keen to engage with the US, adding that the country was keeping it
option open.

Saying the news was not a shock to him, the minister said Malaysia already
had eight rounds of negotiation with the US over the FTA since it first took
place in 2006.

He added that the country would revisit the FTA and also seek more detailed
information on the change of stand by the US administration now that US
President Barack Obama would also be in the city for the Apec meeting.

-- BERNAMA