Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) on Friday urged the United States government to make clear its position on the negotiations of a free trade agreement (FTA).

The ministry's move came in reaction to the call of U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, who demanded that Washington cut off FTA talks with Kuala Lumpur in protest over an energy development deal signed between a Malaysian company and Iran's national oil company.

MITI said the U.S. government should make its official position known so that Malaysia can decide on the future of the negotiations.

Malaysia is ready to suspend FTA talks if the situation warrants it, said the ministry, stressing talks "cannot be held hostage to any political demand."

"No country can determine how companies in another country should conduct business," MITI said in a strongly-worded statement released here.

The ministry reiterated its stance that the FTA initiative should bring mutual benefits for the private sectors of the two countries, adding the negotiations should be in full compliance with all requirements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement.

"Malaysia has adopted, and will continue to adopt, a firm position on issues effecting domestic policies and sovereign rights of the government over domestic policies," the ministry was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency in the statement.

Lantos was reported to have sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, demanding that the U.S. government suspend all FTA talks with Malaysia until the latter cancels the 16-billion-U.S. dollar energy deal signed last month with Iran.

Malaysia and the United States are scheduled to kick off their fifth round of FTA talks this month. U.S. trade officials earlier had expressed their wish to finalize the talks before March 31 this year.

The United States is Malaysia's biggest trading partner and also a major foreign investor. Malaysia is the 10th largest trading partner for the United States.

Source: Xinhua