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Renegotiating TPP with US not an option, says Mustapa

Renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact with the United States (US) will require the 11 remaining countries to compromise on certain issues and will take a long time, says International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

“Renegotiating is certainly not an option. If we do that, it is going to take many more years before we come up with an agreement,” he said when met on the sidelines of the 24th Asean Economic Ministers' Retreat and Related Meetings in Singapore today.

US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, on Feb 27 reportedly said the country was discussing rejoining the multilateral trade agreement.

Mnuchin said renegotiating the trade agreement was “on the table” and that he had been in talks with other countries about what it would take for the US to reverse course.

US President Donald Trump (photo) withdrew from the TPP in January 2017, saying it was a bad deal for the country and left the 11 other members to renegotiate the deal on their own.

The TPP 11 then came up with an agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is expected to be signed on March 8 in Chile.

“The TPP 12 took us many years to negotiate and it was only in October 2015 that we concluded the negotiations... very hard bargain we struck,” said Mustapa.

“If you ask me, we have come a long way…We have spent a lot of time in negotiating the (new) agreement. We have achieved a balanced deal -- a balanced outcome. Once you step back, that balance of cost and benefit will be changed and it is not on,” he said.

In Davos last month, Trump signalled his readiness to reopen trade talks if the US could get a better deal.

He said he would be willing to renegotiate with the 11 TPP countries “individually, or perhaps as a group if it is in the interest of all.”

The 11 TPP members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Mustapa announced that chief negotiator J Jayasiri, who is the Ministry of International Trade and Industry secretary-general, would represent Malaysia at the signing of the CPTPP in Santiago.

-- Bernama

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