US, Malaysian Officials Meet Under TIFA

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Malaysian Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed met in Washington on Sept. 11, and directed their staffs to ramp up cooperation on intellectual property, agriculture, “goods,” labor and the environment under the countries’ Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. Lighthizer and Mohamed will “stay in close touch” over the next months to evaluate progress in resolving “outstanding issues” and engage on ways to enhance economic ties and promote “more balanced trade” between the U.S. and Malaysia, USTR said. The agency also pointed to the $24.8 billion goods trade deficit the U.S. had with Malaysia in 2016, and to the fact that the Malaysia was the U.S.'s 18th largest goods trading partner last year, with $48.5 billion in bilateral goods trade.