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TWN Info Service on Free Trade Agreements 23 May 2010 The Malaysia-US free trade agreement (MUFTA) has
been 'put on the back burner' by Best wishes,
----------------------------------- US Keen for May 7, 10 5:31am The US Trade Representative Ron Kirk held talks this
week with Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed, who traveled with
colleagues from Mustapa indicated that "It's not my place to telegraph what Malaysia would do, but obviously that is an economy that we are very interested in having join," Kirk told a forum in Washington of the East-West Center. "We've been very honest in our outreach to them that we think that having them participate in this process makes a more sellable case to the American public than a stand-alone free trade agreement," Kirk said. US-Malaysia trade talks had dragged on for eight
rounds, bogged down in sensitive areas including The countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
talks are Lawmakers from Obama's Democratic Party have been critical of free trade pacts, fearing that they would hurt US workers. The previous administration of George W. Bush
completed negotiations with Congress has also held up trade agreements with
Obama has promised to South Korean President Lee
Myung-Bak to work to move forward the free-trade agreement, which But Obama and his congressional allies have set
no deadline and the European Union has since signed its own free trade
pact with Kirk acknowledged that the Obama administration faced political hurdles to bringing any of the free trade pacts to a vote. "More important than getting any one deal done is being honest and addressing the underlying, fundamental cynicism that is beginning to creep in" about free trade, Kirk said. "Too many Americans believe that we've gotten cheap T-shirts and cheaper consumer electronics but that we've shipped all our jobs overseas," he said. Arguing that trade benefits the He acknowledged, however, that "the clock is ticking." "I want to get this done sooner than later,"
he said of the ------------ 06 May 2010 22:41:37 GMT Source: Reuters * Next round of Trans-Pacific talks set for June * APEC 2011 could be 'watershed moment,' Kirk says WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - Malaysia could join the United States and seven other countries on both sides of the Pacific in negotiations on a regional free trade agreement, the top U.S. trade official said on Thursday. "Obviously that is an economy that we are very interested in having join," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in remarks to the U.S.-Asia Pacific Council. The Kirk said he expected the TPP to grow into a regional free trade agreement covering all 21 member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The APEC grouping includes Kirk reiterated it was the right decision to begin the TPP talks with a small group of countries committed to negotiating a pact with groundbreaking provisions in areas such as labor and the environment. He also said there had been talks with The "We've been very honest in our outreach to them that we think having them participate in this (TPP) process makes a more salable case to the American public then a stand-alone free trade agreement," Kirk said. Kirk also stoked expectations for the 2011 APEC
leaders summit, which President Barack Obama will host in "APEC 2011 has the potential to be a watershed
moment in Kirk has resisted attempts to make the 2011 APEC meeting a deadline for completing the TPP talks and did not specifically address that point on Thursday. But all the current TPP countries agree "that we really, really want this to be a fast-moving process," he said. Kirk repeated his commitment to winning congressional
approval of a free trade agreement with Changes are still needed in the pact to open ------------------------- BY: Staff Reporter Recognizing that stalled bilateral free trade
agreement negotiations with the But if the TPP appears to be shaping up as a trade
pact that would be beneficial to his country, Mr. Razak said he will
be keen to join - especially as his government moves forward with a
new economic plan aimed at transforming The Prime Minister called it "unfortunate"
that the Trade and investment liberalization are key components
of Mr. Razak's recently announced "New Economic Model" that
he hopes will elevate As it begins to implement its new economic model,
Assistant US Trade Representative for Southeast
Asia and the Pacific Barbara Weisel agreed that The Administration views the TPP as the first
step to a much broader free trade agreement of the Asia-Pacific. Even
without the TPP, the White House sees opportunity for consideration
trade cooperation with ------------------------------------ New Malaysia-US Trade Pact? Mar 11, 2010 Prime Minister Najib Razak said 'There is no more discussion on a bilateral
FTA with the US-Malaysia trade talks had dragged on for
eight rounds, bogged down in sensitive areas including Mr Najib, who is also the finance minister
said the Mr Najib said ----------------------------- parameters, says Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed. "We are keen to come on board subject to consultations and certain parameters. The consultation is being held now," he told Malaysian reporters after the conclusion of the 16th Asean Economic Ministers' (AEM) Retreat Sunday in the national administrative capital, Putrajaya, near here. He added that the ministry had set a number of meetings with the government and the private sector and this was an on-going process. "Once this consultation is completed, I will submit a proposal to the Cabinet and will be guided by the government on how we should move," he said, adding that the discussions on the TPP were still at the early stages. "We have had held several discussions on
TPP. Two weeks ago, we spoke to the Currently, the TPP comprises the Meanwhile, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and
Trade Dr Vu Huy Hoang said "The success of the TPP depends very much
on the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)
Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the With Asean, the discussions were on what the best
modality was to move forward, he said, adding that there were regular
consultations with the "There is very keen interest to strengthen
co-operation with the Dr Surin said discussions are going on and a ministerial
delegation will be going to the On the progress of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, Mustapa said there was no new development on the talks due to problems with some of the major trading nations. "The Doha Development Round has problems with some major trading nations over their lack of commitment. There are fundamental issues that remained unresolved. In the absence of high commitment from major trading nations, surely the Doha Round cannot succeed," he said. The Doha Development Round is the trade negotiations round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that commenced in November 2001. Based on media reports, Mustapa said, the Doha Round faced obstacles to conclude negotiations this year. "We issued a statement last year that the Doha Development Round talks will conclude at the end of this year, but judging from the reports, it is going to be a tall order," he added. - NNN-BERNAMA
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