Indonesia to talk about car policy with the U.S.

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and the United States are to discuss the former's national car policy during a ministerial meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Christchurch, New Zealand, later this week, a senior U.S. diplomat said yesterday.

"We'll talk with our Indonesian colleagues about how to move the country's national car policy in a direction which is consistent with the principles of the WTO (World Trade Organization)," Dorothy Dwoskin, U.S. assistant trade representative for the WTO, said in a Worldnet Dialog broadcast from Washington.

During the dialog, whose participants included panelists in Jakarta, Canberra and Wellington, Dwoskin said that the U.S. Secretary of Trade Mickey Kantor made it clear here last month that the U.S. wants to work with Indonesia to assure that policies adopted by the country will be compatible with those of the WTO.

"We have consultations scheduled. Ambassador Barshefsky will be meeting with the Indonesian trade minister in Christchurch. Hopefully, we'll have further discussions," she said.

She was referring to Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo, who are scheduled to attend the APEC ministerial meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, on July 15 to 16.

Tunky announced in February that the Indonesian government granted pioneer status to PT Timor Putra Nasional, a company controlled by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra, to produce a national car, called "Timor", with Kia Motors of South Korea. The company launched the car here on Monday.

The United States, the European Union and Japan have all said recently that the Indonesian car policy is not consistent with its obligations to fulfill WTO requirements.

Even Japan's auto industry, which currently dominates the car market in Indonesia, has stated that it wants to take the car issue to the WTO for what it called a smooth resolution under fair trade rules.

Interpretation

Meanwhile, Director General of International Trade Anang Fuad Rivai said in a hearing with legislators here yesterday that WTO rules are subject to interpretation.

"Being subject to interpretation means there is a possibility of the national car policy being debated," he said.

"They can have their interpretation and we can have ours. From there, we can try to agree at a certain point," he told reporters during a break at the hearing.

The national car policy was among the issues questioned by legislators yesterday.

Anang also said that in the future, Indonesia may consider counter-trading its products with imports of South Korea's "Timor" sedans. He refused to identify the type of products that may be sold to South Korea under a counter-trade arrangement for the sedans.

He said the possibility of the counter trade is presently being discussed between the companies involved and has not yet been brought to the government.

Dwoskin said yesterday that during the Christchurch meeting, APEC ministers will also talk about the action agenda of regional economic cooperation. The action plan will include efforts to remove impediments to regional cross-border investment.

"We also discuss what further steps can be taken between the meeting in Christchurch and the meeting in Manila," he noted.

APEC is scheduled to start the implementation of its free trade and investment plan on Jan. 1, 1997 after APEC leaders endorse the tariff-reduction measures proposed by individual member economies. The measures will be contained in a document known as the Manila Action Plan for APEC '96, or MAPA.

APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. (13/pwn)