Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US president Donald Trump are expected to witness the signing of a reciprocal trade agreement between the two countries during Malaysia’s chairmanship of the 47th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur in late October.
Investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said US trade representative Jamieson Greer informed him of Trump‘s wish to attend the signing during their bilateral meeting yesterday on the sidelines of the 57th Asean Economic Ministers Meeting and related meetings.
He said both countries had already agreed on the core elements of the pact, Bernama reported.
“All the issues are resolved. Now it is just about preparing the agreement,” he was quoted as saying.
“So, we are committed to that and have been working towards the deadline. I had a bilateral meeting with Greer yesterday and a one-on-one meeting the day before, where we all agreed to try and resolve the wording of the agreement quickly.”
Trump had imposed a reciprocal tariff on Malaysian imports in April, with an initial rate of 24% in April before it was reduced to 19% in August.
While the tariff rate is higher than some Asean neighbours like Singapore, it was lower than others like Cambodia and Vietnam.
Greer said yesterday the US was negotiating deals and establishing a stable economic relationship with Asean.
He said Washington has not ruled out imposing another round of tariffs if ongoing trade negotiations failed to deliver favourable outcomes.
