RI wins antidumping dispute at WTO<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia has won a suit it filed with the World Trade
\nOrganization (WTO) over an antidumping import duty imposed on its
\npaper products by South Korea.<\/p>\n
\"The WTO dispute settlement body (DSB) has vindicated our
\nclaim that Korea violated the antidumping agreement by imposing
\nan additional import duty on our paper products,\" said Minister
\nof Trade Mari Elka Pangestu on Monday.<\/p>\n
The body ruled last Friday that South Korea had failed to
\nprove that Indonesia's paper industry was dumping its products in
\nthe country or that South Korea's local paper industry had
\nsuffered losses as a result of dumping.<\/p>\n
South Korea must comply with the ruling by scraping the
\nadditional import duty, the minister said.<\/p>\n
She added that this was the first suit Indonesia had brought
\nto the DSB as the main disputant and won.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was assisted in the case by the Advisory Center for
\nWTO Law, a kind of legal aid commission set up for developing
\ncountries involved in trade disputes at the WTO.<\/p>\n
The trade ministry's director general for international
\ncooperation, Herry Soetanto, explained that South Korea could
\nappeal the ruling.<\/p>\n
\"But the process is not simple and would take some time,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Indonesia filed a suit with the DSB after the Korean Trade
\nCommission began imposing an antidumping import duty ranging from
\n2.8 percent to 8.2 percent on uncoated paper and several other
\npaper products from Indonesia in November 2003.<\/p>\n
The commission had previously imposed temporary antidumping
\nimport duties in May 2003, ranging from 0.5 percent to 51.6
\npercent, after several South Korean paper producers protested
\nagainst an influx of paper products from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The policy directly affected Indonesian paper producers,
\nincluding one of the country's largest, PT Sinar Mas, which
\nclaimed the import duty cost it US$500,000 monthly.<\/p>\n
Sinar Mas said four of its paper mill subsidiaries were
\naffected by the policy.<\/p>\n
\"Our exports to Korea accounted for 6 percent of our total
\nexports,\" said Sinar Mas managing director Sulistyanto.<\/p>\n
The company hopes its annual exports to Korea can climb to
\n$120 million, after dropping to $60 million from about $100
\nmillion before the antidumping import duty took effect.<\/p>\n
Indonesia imported to South Korea some 88,661 tons of uncoated
\npaper and paperboard valued at $139.1 million in 2002.<\/p>\n
That figure dropped to 68,783 tons valued at $102.1 million
\nthe following year after the Korean Trade Commission imposed the
\nantidumping duty.<\/p>\n
\"This (decision) was the result of good cooperation between
\nthe private sector and the government that will be a model for
\nfuture disputes that threaten our exports,\" said Mari.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-wins-antidumping-dispute-at-wto-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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