I have a question about the TPP and China

[JonLP24]

9. My prediction is those Foxconn jobs will move south

To Malaysia & Singapore

Malaysia offers some manufacturing benefits over China

Summary:Global electronics manufacturer Flextronics says Malaysia can be more cost-effective than China with its lower tax and stricter intellectual property protection regimes, but rising wages a potential concern.

China might be known as the port of call for manufacturing, but global electronics company Flextronics believes Malaysia offers benefits in certain areas its Asian counterpart currently does not offer.

Mark Shandley, the company's vice president for supply chain management, noted during a recent interview that a good number of its customers do express a preference for manufacturing their products in Malaysia over China.

"Some of them are more comfortable with Malaysia because of the perception of intellectual protection, or what they believe is the lack of, in China," he explained. The executive declined to reveal the names of his customers due to non-disclosure agreements, but ZDNet Asia understands some of its clientele include global companies such as Apple and Hewlett-Packard.

Flextronics has 11 manufacturing facilities across Malaysia, with nearly half of them in the state of Penang and the rest in Selangor and Johor. Its Malaysia operations are part of a global production network across over 30 countries--largely in low-cost regions such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Poland and Ukraine.

Cost-efficiency differences
Despite the common perception of cheaper production costs in China, Shandley pointed out that it can be more cost-effective to consider manufacturing in Malaysia to reach Asian markets for some products.

China's labor costs might be relatively cheaper but Malaysia offers cost savings from other areas, which then leads to a better overall cost of a few cents per unit, he said. "One key reason is the taxes, such as China's value-added tax, which is charged on non-China companies and can be at about 4 percent. That is something which Malaysia doesn't have," he pointed out.

However, manufacturers in Malaysia will have to monitor its rising wage cost level in order to remain competitive. According to Shandley, Flextronics Malaysia has witnessed over 20 percent year-on-year increase in overall wages for both direct and non-direct labor, and this is before the impact of the country's new minimum wage law kicks in.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/malaysia-offers-some-manufacturing-benefits-over-china/

That was from 2012, not sure where Malaysia' wages are today but Singapore is very similar with their economy led by its manufacturing sector with electronics, computers, etc a major part of both. Motorola is already there and they left the US for China after the late 90's trade deal

This is what I could find related to Malaysia's recent history specific to TPP

TPPA protest reflects Malaysia's fall from grace

The most eloquent tirade has been by Dr Mahathir (pic), reflecting the opaqueness by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in releasing details of the TPPA mooted at the sidelines of APEC 2011.

The country's longest-serving prime minister's arguments reflect how far Malaysia has fallen among its neighbours with uncompetitive businessmen still hankering for protection in an age of open markets and a rising cost of living due to a weak currency.

In his blog post two days ago, Dr Mahathir went at length to talk about the pacts that have not benefitted Malaysia including the Malaysia-Singapore water agreements.

"The first agreement lapsed in 2011 and we did not renegotiate at all. The next agreement will lapse in 2060. So we will be getting 3 sen per 1,000 gallons of raw water when the cost of living has probably gone up many-many times.

"Today, the Singapore dollar is 21/2 times the value of the Malaysian ringgit. At the time of the agreement it was one to one. Are we receiving payment in Singapore dollars or Malaysian ringgit? Or is this a secret also?" he asked.

The question is why has the Singapore dollar strengthened and the ringgit weakened to that extent when both currencies were at parity when the two countries separated in 1965.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tppa-protest-reflects-malaysias-fall-from-grace#sthash.UgmYSBpu.dpuf

Currency manipulation seems to be a big part of it which is the stated reason for Ford Motor Co coming out against the free trade agreement but currency issues are something I lack understanding in.

This is from November of last year

U.S., China reach deal to expand free trade in tech products

Agreement paves the way for the first major liberalization of global trade in over a decade.

It’s time to look forward to cheaper video game consoles, GPS devices, wireless headsets and a whole load of other high-tech goods–although not in time for this holiday season.

The U.S. and China reached a landmark agreement early Tuesday on cutting tariffs for a whole range of high-tech goods, paving the way for the first global agreement on free trade in information technology in nearly 20 years.

The deal, which has been years in the making, is a welcome piece of positive news in an economic relationship between the two countries that has run into trouble of late against a background of increased , with China aggressively pursuing some leading U.S. companies for alleged antitrust violations.

“This is encouraging news for the U.S.-China relationship,” Reuters quoted USTR Michael Froman as saying on the sidelines of meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing.

http://fortune.com/2014/11/11/u-s-china-reach-deal-to-expand-free-trade-in-tech-products/

Its really difficult to predict this, many countries are still negotiating including the US -- Singapore already has signed on and they have surging trade surpluses but it is hard to tell from data who has a surplus with who when it comes to Malaysia but it appears trade works out for both. The US & Japan already trades with what appears to be the target countries Malaysia--Vietnam but I don't see how any of it leads to Nike or electronics manufacturing jobs for the US.