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US Assistant Trade Representative Barbara Weisel said
it would be “very difficult” to conclude the talks within the deadline
that the United States had set.
<P>“We are looking at the end of March,
that is the operative deadline for us under the congressional authority that we
have now,” she told a press briefing yesterday. </P><P>Weisel said while
progress had been made in a number of areas, there were few key areas where “unfortunately,
only limited progress was made.” </P><P>“There has been some sensitive
issues in the negotiations and we continue to try and close the gap on those issues;
we will continue to talk and try to do that over the next few weeks,” she
added. </P><P>Weisel said the United States anticipated further dialogue with
the Malaysian authorities over the next few weeks, but no sessions have been scheduled
for now. </P><P>The two teams concluded the fifth round of FTA talks yesterday,
which ran over five days held at a resort in Karambunai, some 30km from here.
</P><P>The negotiations started last June and the parties have met four times
– in Penang, Washington, Kuala Lumpur and San Francisco. </P><P>Asked if
the two teams reached a deadlock over issues such as government procurement, Weisel
said there were some difficult issues and strong sensitivities on both sides.
</P><P>“We think we can close the gap between the two positions but it is
going to take some work on both sides,” she added. </P><P>She also said the
United States believed that an FTA was achievable, which would mutually benefit
the two countries. </P><P>The United States is pressured to conclude the talks,
as the March 31 deadline looms close for the US Congress to be notified of its
outcome. </P><P>The parties were expecting to submit the conclusions before this
deadline, which is 90 days before the expiry of US President George W. Bush’s
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in July. </P><P>The TPA is a fast-track authority
that allows the president to negotiate trade agreements that the US Congress can
only approve or reject. </P><P>In KUALA LUMPUR yesterday, International Trade
and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said she would not change government
policies that benefit ethnic Malays, an issue where the two negotiators had disagreed,
Bloomberg reports. </P><P>“We are far from” a free-trade agreement,
said Rafidah. “I don’t expect at this meeting everything will be solved.”
</P><P><I>Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/10/nation/16840449&sec=nation</I>
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