RI's 1995 trade surplus with U.S. tops $890m
RI's 1995 trade surplus with U.S. tops $890m
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of US$890 million with the United States for the first eleven months of last year, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Tunky Ariwibowo, said yesterday.
After meeting President Soeharto, Tunky said that from January to November 1995, Indonesia's total exports of non-oil and gas products to the U.S. exceeded $5.2 billion while its imports amounted to $4.3 billion.
He said that exports to the U.S. rose 9 percent in the first eleven months of last year compared with the same period in 1994 while imports jumped 37 percent.
Indonesia, however, will be adversely affected by a new regulation on the certificate of origin to be enforced by the U.S. in July, he said.
"The new regulation will particularly affect exports of our textile products to the U.S. market," he said.
"We recognize that we have problems with the U.S. government. And we are still negotiating with them on those problems, including their allegations on dumping practices by Indonesian businessmen and the coming changes in their regulation on the certificate of origin," Tunky added.
Tunky added that Indonesia registered trade surpluses with all member countries of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), except Thailand.
Total trade between Indonesia and the six ASEAN members reached $9.3 billion during the first eleven months of 1995.
Trade with Singapore topped the list with the two-way trade reaching $5.4 billion with a surplus of $1.3 billion for Indonesia.
Malaysia came second with $1.6 billion, from which Indonesia enjoyed a surplus of $183 million.
Indonesia's trade with Thailand stood at $1.3 billion with a surplus of $38 million in Thailand's favor.
With the Philippines, Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of $405 million on a two-way trade of $559 million and with Vietnam $382 million with a surplus of $102 million for Indonesia.
Indonesia posted a surplus of $20 million in its trade with Brunei, which amounted to $21 million.
During the same period, Indonesia posted a deficit of $2.4 billion with Japan. Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to Japan were up 20 percent to $6.1 billion but imports also rose by 23 percent to $8.5 billion.
"But don't be misled by the figures. The deficit is based only on non-oil and non-gas products. If oil and natural gas products are included, the trade figure should have been much higher," Tunky added. (08)