Posted on 03 Nov 2015
Govt told to be neutral on export restrictions
The government would be better using
a diplomatic approach rather than imposing retaliatory measures in response to
restrictive trade practices conducted by Indonesia’s trading partners, an
international trade observer has said.
Niki Bavenda Sari, a researcher with the Trade Ministry’s board of trade policy
study and development, said recently that restrictive trade measures should not
be met by similar restrictive practices, as they could backfire.
“The government needs to be neutral and try to understand the reasons behind
the enactment of restrictive measures on local products,” she said during the
dissemination of a trade-related policy review.
However, the government also needed to negotiate with trading partners imposing
restrictive measures on Indonesian products to maintain its export targets.
During the period of April 2014 to July 2015, 10 Indonesian export commodities
became subject to antidumping and safeguard measures imposed by a number of
countries, according to Trade Ministry data.
Among the products on which restrictive measures were imposed were steel plate,
saturated fatty alcohols, hot-rolled steel coils and monosodium glutamate
(MSG).
The antidumping measures are carried out by Canada, US, Vietnam, the EU and
Australia, while the safeguard measures are carried out by India and Malaysia.
From 2009 to 2013, a number of Indonesian export commodities were subjected to
32 restrictive measures, including antidumping, countervailing and safeguard
measures.
During the period, Turkey was the country that imposed the largest number of
restrictive measures on Indonesian products with five, followed by the EU
(four), India and Pakistan (four each) and Australia with three.
Indonesia has so far imposed safeguard measures on 16 imported products,
including coated paper, wire rod and ceramic tableware, according to data from
the Indonesian Trade Safeguard Committee of the Trade Ministry.
The relatively high number of restrictive trade measures imposed by many
countries has confirmed a previous report by the World Trade Organization (WTO)
that despite moving to free-trade regimes, every country still tried to protect
its national interests, according to Niki.
In the period of October 2012 to November 2013, 407 trade restrictions and
trade remedies worldwide affected an estimated 1.3 percent of world imports
worth US$250 billion, WTO’s data has shown.
For Indonesia most restrictive trade measures imposed on its products by
trading partners did not hugely affect the total export value of non-oil and
gas commodities, Niki said.
Trade Ministry data shows that the contribution of products on which
restrictive measures were imposed amounted to only around 1 percent of total
non-oil and gas exports.
The data has also revealed that the global export value of the products only
slumped by 0.5 percent, signaling that most exporters have started diversifying
their markets.
Meanwhile, Sri Nastiti, the head of the Trade Ministry’s center for
international trade cooperation, said that the government still needed to make
sure that any restrictive measures imposed on Indonesian products would not
unduly harm local businesses.
The Trade Ministry would review the restrictive measures before taking any
actions, she went on.
The
government would be better using a diplomatic approach rather than
imposing retaliatory measures in response to restrictive trade practices
conducted by Indonesia’s trading partners, an international trade
observer has said.
Niki Bavenda Sari, a researcher with the Trade
Ministry’s board of trade policy study and development, said recently
that restrictive trade measures should not be met by similar restrictive
practices, as they could backfire.
“The government needs to be
neutral and try to understand the reasons behind the enactment of
restrictive measures on local products,” she said during the
dissemination of a trade-related policy review.
However, the
government also needed to negotiate with trading partners imposing
restrictive measures on Indonesian products to maintain its export
targets.
During the period of April 2014 to July 2015, 10
Indonesian export commodities became subject to antidumping and
safeguard measures imposed by a number of countries, according to Trade
Ministry data.
Among the products on which restrictive measures
were imposed were steel plate, saturated fatty alcohols, hot-rolled
steel coils and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
The antidumping
measures are carried out by Canada, US, Vietnam, the EU and Australia,
while the safeguard measures are carried out by India and Malaysia.
From
2009 to 2013, a number of Indonesian export commodities were subjected
to 32 restrictive measures, including antidumping, countervailing and
safeguard measures.
During the period, Turkey was the country
that imposed the largest number of restrictive measures on Indonesian
products with five, followed by the EU (four), India and Pakistan (four
each) and Australia with three.
Indonesia has so far imposed
safeguard measures on 16 imported products, including coated paper, wire
rod and ceramic tableware, according to data from the Indonesian Trade
Safeguard Committee of the Trade Ministry.
The relatively high
number of restrictive trade measures imposed by many countries has
confirmed a previous report by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that
despite moving to free-trade regimes, every country still tried to
protect its national interests, according to Niki.
In the period
of October 2012 to November 2013, 407 trade restrictions and trade
remedies worldwide affected an estimated 1.3 percent of world imports
worth US$250 billion, WTO’s data has shown.
For Indonesia most
restrictive trade measures imposed on its products by trading partners
did not hugely affect the total export value of non-oil and gas
commodities, Niki said.
Trade Ministry data shows that the
contribution of products on which restrictive measures were imposed
amounted to only around 1 percent of total non-oil and gas exports.
The
data has also revealed that the global export value of the products
only slumped by 0.5 percent, signaling that most exporters have started
diversifying their markets.
Meanwhile, Sri Nastiti, the head of
the Trade Ministry’s center for international trade cooperation, said
that the government still needed to make sure that any restrictive
measures imposed on Indonesian products would not unduly harm local
businesses.
The Trade Ministry would review the restrictive
measures before taking any actions, she went on. - See more at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/11/02/govt-told-be-neutral-export-restrictions.html#sthash.BvBYAwGf.dpuf
