COMMENT | When the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) released its statement on the United States-Malaysia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), it captured a familiar national anxiety: the fear that Malaysia is losing control of its economic destiny.

Concerns over sovereignty, dependency, and asymmetry resonate deeply with a country navigating an increasingly contested world.

But fear cannot be the organising principle of economic policy. The right starting point is not whether ART is perfect - no agreement with a superpower ever is - but whether Malaysia retains enough legal, economic, and strategic space to protect its interests and upgrade its economy.

That is the only responsible framework for assessing the deal.

Sovereignty: Capability, not slogans

MIER’s statement warns that ART compromises sovereignty. The concern is understandable, but the argument requires precision.

First, ART contains an explicit...