39 products faced dumping claims last year

JAKARTA (JP): Several countries filed dumping claims on 39 of Indonesia's export commodities last year, says an official of the Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee.

Committee Chairman T.L. Yousuf said during 1996 Indonesia also accused a number of importing countries of the same offense.

Yousuf said Wednesday the dumping claims on Indonesian products included those from the United States, for melamine products, and Australia, for A4-size photocopy paper.

Since an anti-dumping law was established in Indonesia last year, Indonesia has so far filed claims against products from South Korea and Taiwan, for synthetic fiber; from Thailand and India, for carbon paper; and from Russia, India, China and Ukraina, for steel plates.

Yousuf said there were several other countries accused of dumping their products in Indonesia and were now being assessed by the Anti-Dumping Committee.

He said most of the alleged dumping practices might have been done by exporters before Indonesia introduced the laws last year.

"The United States and Australia have long applied anti- dumping laws," Yousuf said in Antara.

He said Indonesia's anti-dumping clauses conformed with international regulations and with Indonesia's long-term interests.

He said Indonesia's manufactured product industries were often charged with anti-dumping claims and exporters frequently suffered from "hidden protectionist measures" when in fact "Indonesia was clearly not dumping".

Yousuf said the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had often advised exporters to understand the anti-dumping laws of their foreign trade partners.

Indonesia's anti-dumping laws, he said, were not meant as a protectionist measure.

Yousuf said the industrial areas in Indonesia, such as Batam, were prone to anti-dumping claims.

Giving an example, he said that if an item produced by a Japanese company was subject to an anti-dumping claim from the European Union (EU), Batam could be effected if the Japanese company manufactured the item there.

The EU would investigate the origin of the product and calculate the product's local content.

"If it is less than 40 percent, for example, Japan will have to pay and Batam will be effected. In cases such as these, we can negotiate with Japan and ask it to not only invest in assembling projects but to also increase local content as required (by the EU)," he said. (pwn)