Indonesia wants tariff cut

Indonesia wants tariff cut

AUCKLAND (Dow Jones): Indonesian Trade and Industry Minister Rahardi Ramelan said Wednesday that Indonesia is particularly keen for the World Trade Organization to tackle high tariffs on semiprocessed and processed agricultural products in its next round of talks.

At present, "there is a high tariff for semiprocessed products and processed products" produced by the agricultural sector, Ramelan said.

Rahardi also said he strongly supports a decision by trade ministers in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to push for a broad round of world trade talks that include negotiating on trade in industrial goods.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Rahardi also said that Indonesia is considering a further cut in the export tax on crude palm oil in a bid to lift prices.

He said setting the right export tax was complex, given the low price of the commodity on international markets.