The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) wants the government to tell US President Barack Obama that it will be withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

CAP president SM Mohamed Idris said if this can’t be done, Malaysia should at least not agree to any new concessions during TPPA negotiations which are most likely to take place during Obama’s visit next week.

Mohamed Idris has sent a letter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to inform him on the matter on April 21.

The letter has been copied to other cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar and Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah.

Mohamed Idris ( right ) has told Najib that he should take advantage of Obama’s visit to brief him about Malaysians’ concerns about the TPPA, and to withdraw from further negotiations.

“We believe this is the course that is in the best interests of the country,” Mohamed Idris said during a press conference today.

 

“It could be remembered that Malaysia and the US attempted to negotiate a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) several years ago, but the negotiations were not concluded due to many differences (including reportedly on some of the same issues that now raise concerns in the TPPA),” he recalled.

“The non-conclusion of that negotiation did not cause any adverse effects on US-Malaysia relations,” Mohamed Idris said.

 

“If the visit of the US president is not judged to be the best occasion to announce an exit from the TPPA, we request at the least that no new concessions be offered to the United States during the PM’s meeting with the president, or during the meetings between Malaysian and US officials,” he stressed.

 

Mohamed Idris said that CAP would like to put on record its views on the TPPA on the occasion of Obama’s visit as the TPPA will reportedly be on the agenda of the talks between the president and Najib.

‘Few benefits to Malaysia’

The TPPA will bring few benefits to Malaysia even in market access, since Malaysia has higher tariffs in many products than the US, and will thus have to make significantly more concessions than the US, Mohamed Idris said.

 

He also countered that for issues other than tariffs, Malaysia will be very adversely affected in economic and social terms.

 

“These effects on Malaysia are bad enough, but we also have no guarantee that whatever is offered by the US negotiating team will hold,” Mohamed Idris warned.

“This is because trade policy, including the TPPA, is under the authority of the US Congress and the latter can reject portions of the TPPA and ask for the administration to get the other TPPA countries to accept amendments,” he added.

 

Obama has been trying to obtain fast-track authority from Congress (in which Congress can only approve or reject but cannot change the TPPA), but he has been unable to obtain this due to opposition by a majority in Congress, said Mohamed Idris.

Due to this, some countries are reported to have stated that they would not sign on to the TPPA if the US president does not get fast-track authority, he added.

 “We believe that Malaysia should also take this position and should certainly not make concessions when the USA does not have fast-track authority,” said Mohamed Idris.