House Democrats Call Malaysia Upgrade Reports Politically Motivated
One hundred and sixty House lawmakers, led by influential Democrats in the chamber, urged Secretary of State John Kerry on July 17 to stay impartial in determining whether to upgrade Malaysia in State’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons report. Many Democrats on Capitol Hill and human rights activists have lashed into reports that State aims to move Malaysia from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on its trafficking scale (see 1507090050).
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President Barack Obama signed Trade Promotion Authority into law in late June, and the legislation contained language to bar expedited consideration of free trade agreements with Tier 3 countries (see 1504270008). Malaysia is party to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. An upgrade would likely indicate “external considerations” are at play, said the letter, led by Sandy Levin, D-Mich., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “We’ve seen no reason during the reporting period for this year’s TIP Report that would justify moving Malaysia back to the Watch List,” the letter said (here). “If anything, the situation has grown worse. Malaysia has earned its place on Tier 3.”
The country lingered on State’s Tier 2 Watch List for four years before its downgrade in 2014, noted the letter. “The administration is, by all accounts, poised to conclude the massive [TPP] negotiations. Malaysia is the only TPP member on Tier 3,” the lawmakers said. “An upgrade for Malaysia is certainly not merited by the facts we’ve seen.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is hosting a TPP ministerial at the end of July in Hawaii. Nineteen Senators sent a similar letter to Kerry on July 15 (see 1507150029). Lawmakers plan to add language to Customs Reauthorization to supersede the trafficking provision in TPA (see 1507070066).