00:00I'm from China Media Group. I would like to ask, according to a report, local media report,
00:13the report says that the new punitive terrorist from Trump government were caused a sudden
00:23economic shock to Malaysia, not only Malaysia, but of course a sudden economic institutional
00:32shock to the world trade system. So, and for the U.S., this is not only a means of pressure,
00:42but also the beginning of the blackmail. So, what do you think about that?
00:47As I mentioned, thank you very much. As I mentioned, we will continue to engage the
00:53U.S. What is good, in a way, is that the tariff that was announced, the tariff of 25 percent,
01:01will be effective on 1st of August. This gives us time. Initially, the 90 days ended yesterday.
01:09So, we act in good faith. We want a fair and comprehensive agreement for Malaysia.
01:15Today, you have seen many countries face similar challenges. That's why we only see two countries
01:21countries that have concluded some form of agreement with the U.S., but the rest are still in negotiations.
01:27The negotiations will proceed. We will continue. I have contacted my counterpart, U.S. Trade
01:33Representative, Ambassador Greer, yesterday. And tomorrow, we will have a video call with him.
01:40In fact, tomorrow also, the Prime Minister is meeting Mark Rubio. I will be there, the Secretary of State.
01:47So, the engagement will continue. So, it's not about a question that negotiations have failed. It's not
01:53about the questions that this is about Malaysia or the world is facing a crisis. But, of course,
02:01in all negotiations, in all meetings, in all platforms, we continue to reinforce our view that we are
02:08in support of the principles of multilateralism. We believe in the rule-based trading system,
02:15of course, with WTO at its core. So, this is key. But at the same time, during these negotiations,
02:22it's important to note that Malaysia continues to be neutral in its approach, and ASEAN as well.
02:28We believe in ASEAN's centrality and neutrality, and we will continue to engage all parties.
02:33Mr. Stryker, if there were a few examples, why don't you think it's going to be neutral?
02:39That's the question of USTR. We already asked, but we didn't have the answer.
02:42Because this is due to the President of the United States.
02:45Like Japan, why don't you think it's 1%? But we have to look at the context of the discussion.
02:511% is not a number of large numbers. We are still less than a number of countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and so on.
02:59The important thing is that this is not effective yet. Effective on August 1, and we will continue to engage with the discussion.
03:08The important thing is that we cannot compromise if there is a issue regarding the country.
03:16It is a issue that we can make sure that we don't agree with the decision.
03:22This is not only about tariff, but about non-tariff. It is also about undang-undang that we have, undang-undang that we have, that we are important for our country.
03:33We cannot compromise. So, we have to look at it from the same level.
03:38Like I said earlier, if we can, if we can, we can reduce the 25% to the lower than the 25%.
03:47I understand that the lantainya is 10%.
03:51Because of that, the 10% of the country has 10%.
03:53They don't have to be undang-undang with the United States.
03:56So, I and our crew will continue to be undang-undang with the United States.
04:01But, we have to give and take.
04:03If we don't agree, we have to be ready to say that we don't agree with the red line.
04:08The issue of red line is that it is important for us to protect the red line.
04:14What are the specific red lines? You mentioned that it may be policies or what?
04:30Both policies and law. I can't say in detail. I mentioned about one on the digital trade.
04:37We have talked about our ability to impose tax, digital tax. That's a red line.
04:43I think that's our, we feel that that's our sovereignty right.
04:47I can't go into great detail on those issues, but rest assured, we have to stand firm.
04:53And we stood firm on many issues as well.
04:57And to be fair, like I said, some of the issues after elaborating and explaining why, the U.S. has accepted our reasoning.
05:06I want to ask you, we now reached a deal and we got a 50% discount.
05:14I mean, for us, what was the main reason why we couldn't reach a deal?
05:18Well, the main reason is because we need more time. I mean, like I said just now, there are only two countries that have reached a deal.
05:28We don't want to reach a deal for the sake of reaching a deal, right? If we can reach a deal that on balance benefits Malaysia, benefit Malaysian companies, benefit Malaysians, then yes.
05:38But if the deal does not benefit Malaysia, we should not have a deal, right? We have to be firm on that.
05:44We have to go in a negotiating table, not wanting to agree on anything. That's not how negotiation works. It has to be fair, it has to be comprehensive, it has to be inclusive.
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