COMMENT | There was strong resistance in Malaysia against the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which included the US, during the negotiating period between 2010 and 2015.

When its successor, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), was finally signed in March 2018, after the US withdrawal under the first Donald Trump presidency, many of the fears surrounding the negative impacts of the CPTPP proved to be overblown.

They include the use of the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism by multinational firms to take the Malaysian government to court. 

The eventual ratification of the CPTPP took place under the Perikatan Nasional government in September 2022 and came into force under the Madani administration in November 2022.

Some of the language and details in the CPTPP text share similarities with the recently signed Malaysia-US agreement on reciprocal trade, including the commitment to reduce technical barriers to trade and a commitment to international labour standards and environmental protection.

Admittedly, there are major differences between the CPTPP and the Malaysia-US trade agreement, in the negotiation process as well as the text.

The Malaysia-US trade deal was negotiated in a compressed period, without any parliamentary debate or much stakeholder engagement.

Malaysia may be seen as having conceded more than we have gained from a market access and tariffs reduction perspective.

Some parts of deal, when read in isolation, can be (mis)interpreted that Malaysia will be forced to “align” our domestic policies with that of the US.

But the reciprocal trade agreement is not a conventional Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has...