MITI, AGENCIES CONDUCTING COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS ON ART - JOHARI

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), together with its agencies such as the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, is conducting a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) on the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) with the United States (US).

MITI Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the CBA, with assistance from MIDF Research, is expected to take between six and 12 months to complete.

“The CBA will focus on the impact of Malaysia’s exports to the US, which is valued at RM233.1 billion, as well as the trade surplus of RM98.7 billion,” he said during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He said this in response to a question from Dr Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) on the government’s move to conduct the CBA in detail before signing the ART and the agencies involved in carrying out the analysis.

Meanwhile, Johari said that Malaysia has yet to receive any notice or official communication from the US regarding the timeline to ratify the ART.

“Accordingly, the government is re-examining the terms of the ART to ensure that national economic interests are safeguarded and risks to the country’s trade are minimised,” he said.

He added that as the imposition of unilateral tariffs is a prerogative of the US, the termination of the ART would create an uncertain and unstable economic environment.

As previously reported, the US had initially planned to impose a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Malaysian exports, but following negotiations with MITI, the rate was reduced to 19 per cent.

— BERNAMA