U.S. lists RI as among nations with worst trade barriers
U.S. lists RI as among nations with worst trade barriers
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia has been listed among 55 nations accused by the U.S.
government of using unfair trade practices and barriers against
U.S. exporters.
The list is contained in a report entitled The National Trade
Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers issued by the Office of
the United States Trade Representatives (USTR).
The U.S. government said that Indonesia had not complied with
global trade regulations.
Progress was needed in almost all 10 categories classified as
foreign trade barriers including import policies (tariff and non-
tariff), export subsidies, certification, intellectual property
rights protection, service barriers, automotive policy etc., said
the report as stated in the USTR website on Friday.
The U.S. government promised to intensify efforts to push its
trading partners including Indonesia, to remove the barriers
through bilateral consultation and negotiation. It said that the
trade barriers had badly hurt U.S. exporters and its economy.
However, if talks fail to bear fruit, then harsher actions --
for instance bringing the case to international regulators such
as the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- would be taken, the
report added.
While the move follows years of U.S. discontent over
Indonesia's selected economic policies, critics have said here
that it is nothing more than a desperate attempt to salvage its
worsening trade deficit.
While China and Japan have no doubt the largest trade deficit
with the U.S., a US$7 billion deficit with Indonesia in 2003
should also pose concern to the U.S.
The U.S.-China current trade imbalance, at $124 billion, is
the largest deficit the U.S. has ever experienced with a single
trade partner.
Equally outrageous, the U.S.' call for developing nations to
comply with what it said were basic principles of trade
liberalization comes at a time when the U.S. government in
certain cases, pursues policies that could harm the economy of
its trading partners such as Indonesia.
The U.S. allocates a huge subsidy for a number of agricultural
products to its farmers to help keep the price of their products
below that of the actual production cost, making them more
competitive in the global market, which definitely hurts
Indonesian farmers.
Among other prominent issues the report highlighted was the
Indonesian government's move to impose de facto quantitative
restrictions on the import of meat and poultry products by
requiring a certain certification, which raises U.S. concerns
that this was being used to limit imports from the U.S.
"U.S. industry estimates the trade impact of this restriction
to be between $10 million and $25 million," said the report.
The other issue was a policy allowing the government to
maintain a ban on the import of chicken parts for not meeting the
halal (permissible to Muslims) certification requirement.