M’sia & US Agree Not To Rush Into Signing FTA
Bernama, Malaysia
M’sia & US Agree Not To Rush Into Signing FTA
23 August 2006
By Siti Hawa Othman
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) — Malaysia and the United States have agreed not to rush into concluding a mutually-beneficial free trade agreement (FTA) until both parties are satisfied with what was being negotiated.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said even U.S Trade Representative (USTR) Susan C. Schwab has agreed that both parties should be cautious before agreeing to it and not merely meeting the deadline of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).
The TPA, which expires on July 1, 2007, is to accelerate the implementation of FTAs which the US is negotiating with.
In any bilateral, both parties should be satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, Rafidah told Bernama after having talks with Schwab, here Wednesday.
Schwab, who is on her first trip to this region after being appointed to the post in June, is scheduled to meet her Asean counterparts, attending the 38th Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting, here, where the US is likely to sign the Asean-US Trade Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) on Friday.
The US-Malaysia FTA negotiations were launched on March 8 in Washington. Both sides have met twice so far, first in Penang in June and in Washington last month. There are three more rounds of negotiations on scheduled, each in September, October and December this year.
Schwab was reported to have said that this December or January 2007 would be a "logical" deadline for both parties to conclude the FTA talks.
Malaysia is US’ 10th largest trading partner, the largest in Asean and the fifth largest US trading partner in Asia.
Total trade with the US grew by 8.7 percent to RM161 billion for 2004-2005.
