Malaysia wants the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be renegotiated and has urged protection for small countries in international trade. Eleven countries circling the Pacific signed a slimmed-down version of the TPP in March, opting to proceed with the deal after it was left for dead when the US pulled out.

Malaysia’s ideal is a broad trade pact such as the East Asian Economic Caucus. Signatories to the TPP represent 13.5 per cent of the global economy and a market of 500 million people. The deal was pushed by the US in part as a way to counter growing Chinese commercial power. It cuts tariffs and requires members to comply with a high level of regulatory standards in areas like labor law and environmental protection.

Malaysia does not want to be manipulated by the big players in the TPP. Its call to review the TPP agreement would be a blow for the eleven-member trade pact, which was finalized after tough negotiations earlier this year following the withdrawal of one of the original signatories, the United States. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, as it is now called following the US withdrawal, will reduce tariffs in countries that together amount to more than 13 per cent of the global economy. With the United States, it would have represented 40 per cent.