KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia
will step up trade with ASEAN countries and Asian countries with the official
withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Jan 23.
ASEAN member
states would the main focus of Malaysia's trade, followed Northeast Asian
countries like China, South Korea, Japan and India, which were also important.
So far,
China is still Malaysia largest trading partner. This is not new as Malaysia has
always worked together with China.US President Donald Trump started his first
day in office on Jan 23 by signing an executive order to pull out of the trade
deal, reaffirming his administration's protectionist policy.
The TPP,
which was signed by Malaysia and 11 other countries, including the US, on Feb
4, 2016, could not be implemented without the participation of the US, which
made up 60 per cent of the TPP's combined gross domestic product (GDP).
In order to
ratify the deal, at least six countries, comprising 85 per cent of the pact's
overall GDP had to approve it.Besides Malaysia and the US, the other TPP
signatories were Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, New Zealand, Japan,
Singapore, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam.