Trans-Pacific View | Economy | Southeast Asia

Malaysia Has Not Informed US of Withdrawal From Trade Deal: Official

The status of the deal has been unclear since the Malaysia’s trade minister said that last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling rendered the agreement “void.”

Malaysia has not informed the United States of its withdrawal from their recently-agreed trade agreement, despite its trade minister saying that the deal was “null and void” following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

A U.S. official with knowledge of the negotiations with Malaysia told The Diplomat that Washington “has not received any notification from the Prime Minister’s office that Malaysia is exiting the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART).”

The agreement was signed by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in October. Under the ART, Malaysia agreed to grant expanded market access to U.S. firms and pledged to spend $240 billion in investments and purchases of American goods, including beef and aircraft. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to reduce tariffs on Malaysian goods to 19 percent, down from the 24 percent set during President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” announcement last April.

Last month, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not provide the legal justification for most of the tariffs imposed last year.

Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Malaysian Trade Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said that the Supreme Court ruling had effectively voided the agreement. “It is not on hold. It is no longer there, it’s null and void,” he was........

© The Diplomat