Urimai chairperson P Ramasamy has lodged a police report against the Malaysia-US trade agreement at the Seberang Perai district police headquarters.
In his report, Ramasamy accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of undermining Malaysia’s sovereignty by signing the deal.
“Anwar has placed Malaysia in a precarious situation and turned us into the US’ puppet. Our sovereignty had been compromised for the sake of maintaining good ties with the US.
“As Urimai leader, I urge the police to establish a special team to investigate Anwar for undermining our sovereignty by signing the agreement.
“And the agreement must be cancelled soon, or we may risk losing our sovereignty quietly,” he added.
Contentious US-M’sia trade pact
Inked on Oct 26 between Anwar and US President Donald Trump during the latter’s visit to Kuala Lumpur for the Asean Summit, the agreement includes provisions encouraging closer alignment with Washington on national security matters such as export controls, sanctions, and investment screening.
The trade pact also grants preferential access for American goods and services, while the US has exempted certain Malaysian exports from Trump’s 19 percent reciprocal tariff.
In return, Malaysia is expected to observe US trade restrictions tied to economic or national security concerns, align itself with US export controls and sanctions on sensitive technologies, and prevent Malaysian firms from facilitating sanctions evasion.
Putrajaya is also expected to explore mechanisms to screen inbound investments for national security risks, including those involving critical minerals and infrastructure.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 1, former investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz reiterated that Malaysia did not negotiate the trade agreement “from a position of comfort”.
He noted that talks on the deal were held under the threat of Trump’s 25 percent tariff on almost all of Malaysia’s exports to the US.
Lopsided deal
On that note, Ramasamy said that while the deal was labelled as a reciprocal agreement, he claimed it was not the case.
He pointed out that the agreement was unfair to Malaysia, with the US aiming to use it to block China’s economic progress.
The former Penang deputy chief minister added that while Anwar had defended the deal by saying it would bring in more foreign direct investment and promote job creation, Ramasamy stressed that the negative outweighs its benefits.
“While there is an exit clause, Anwar’s weak leadership and his pandering to the US render the clause meaningless,” Ramasamy added.
‘Recolonisation’
Yesterday, the armed forces veterans also voiced out against the controversial Malaysia-US trade agreement, backing concerns that the deal puts Malaysia’s sovereignty at risk in a situation akin to “recolonisation”.
Addressing a press conference alongside former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former chief of defence forces Borhan Ahmad said the veterans are prepared to meet with the Conference of Rulers to discuss their worries.
“We have made arrangements to meet with the rulers (to) discuss the issues we are facing and request their insights on the matters.
“We are very disappointed - something has to be done. We plan to do a few things; a meeting with the rulers is one of the things that we are hoping to do,” Borhan said. - Mkini
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