KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today stressed that the Malaysia-United States (US) Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) was signed because the country needs high investments and trade from America.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the signed ART also has an ‘exit clause’ and the question of handing over the country’s trade sovereignty to the US did not arise.
“I don’t want to be apologetic, why did we sign it anyway? Because we need high investments and trade with the US,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time session at the Dewan Rakyat today in reply to a supplementary question from Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang) on whether the ART was beneficial to Malaysia.
According to Anwar, the signed ART was also scrutinised by China on whether the clauses in the agreement would cancel the possibility of cooperation with them.
“Of course, anything done by America is scrutinised line by line by China. Does a decision like in semiconductors, rare earth preclude, cancel the possibility of cooperation with them? No, there is an exit clause,” explained Anwar.
The ART between Malaysia and the US was signed on Oct 26 by Anwar and US President Donald Trump, who was visiting Malaysia to attend the 47th Asean Summit and related meetings here.
According to Anwar, his meetings with Trump, which took place face-to-face throughout Trump’s stay in Malaysia, discussed various matters including the situation in Gaza and also aspects of trade and investment.
Anwar also stressed that the invitation to Trump to attend the Asean Summit was in his capacity as the Asean chairman 2025 who has the right to invite world leaders to participate in the summit.
“In the meetings with the US, of course the focus was on increasing trade and investments including the presence of data centres and AI which we need to enhance our capabilities in the field of technology,” Anwar said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also denied allegations that the ART was signed because Malaysia was subservient to the US in terms of global trade.
Anwar stressed that the just-concluded Asean Summit also witnessed the signing of the enhanced Asean-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA 3.0), which is proof of the benefits of trade relations between Asean and China.
“If, as alleged, we are only subservient to the US, there is no way we can seal an FTA agreement with China, which has an even larger network,” he added. — Bernama