United States - Indonesian Trade Relations

This article below appearing in the Jakarta Globe compounds my previous assertions that Indonesia will accept foreign aide from the United States (mainly in the form of contributions through the United States Agency on International Development or "USAID") and pay mere lip service to the U.S. in its foreign diplomatic relations; but then turns right around and blocks the U.S. from any meaningful or substantial bi-lateral trade agreements or commerce or military hardware or technologies purchases from the U.S.  

• Indonesia is one of USAID's "Top 20 Benefiting Countries" for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 - Indonesian is ranked number 16 in line to hold out their hands and receive $171,036,145 (one hundred seventy one MILLION, 36 thousand, one hundred forty five) U.S. Dollars (USD) from the United States through USAID alone in humanitarian and economic assistance.

• For FY2011, Indonesia received $252.3 MILLION in total Economic & Military Assistance from the United States.

Indonesia does do some marginal trade with the U.S.; however there is a big gap or trade deficit between the two countries.  For further data on this, please see my previous article: "Indonesia Export / Import Trade Facts Summary"

It is very clear and obvious that Indonesia does not appreciate nor value the $200 +/- Million USD it receives from the U.S. !!  The United States needs to wake up quickly and re-prioritize its foreign policies with regard to Indonesia.  There are clearly no mutually beneficial or rewarding bi-lateral agreements between the two countries with regard to trade, commerce, or other "strategic" benefits or initiatives.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indonesia Blocks US Request for WTO to Proble Farm Import Rules

Indonesia blocked a US request for World Trade Organization judges to probe Indonesian curbs on imports of horticultural goods, animals and animal products ranging from beef and vegetables to fruits and dried flowers.

The US, which challenged Indonesia on Jan. 10, said non- automatic import licenses and quotas hinder trade and break global commerce rules. Indonesia won’t be able to block a second US request for the Geneva-based WTO to set up a panel of judges to rule on the complaint.

“Indonesia has created a complex web of import-licensing requirements that, along with quotas, have the effect of unfairly restricting US exports,” the US Trade Representative’s Office said in a March 14 statement from Washington.

“These measures appear to be designed to protect Indonesia’s domestic agriculture industry.” Indonesia adopted the rules in late 2011 and tightened them last September to include what the US called even more onerous requirements for horticultural imports.

In December, Indonesia announced “drastic reductions in quotas for beef and other animal product imports, further restricting access to the Indonesian market,” the USTR said.

The WTO challenge is the second initiated by the US against Indonesia. In 1998, judges backed a joint complaint by the US, the European Union and Japan over Indonesian measures favoring domestic automobile producers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE:

Indonesia Relaxes Import Rules After U.S. Goes to WTO

Indonesia has eased restrictions on some agricultural imports after the United States complained to the World Trade Organization over Jakarta's "opaque and complex" rules, the trade ministry said.
The US first raised the issue with the trade body in January, citing Indonesia's "broad use of import licensing measures that restrict imports" on a range of agricultural products.

It criticised the licensing system, which came into force last year, as "opaque and complex", saying it was inconsistent with Indonesia's WTO obligations and was having an impact on US exports to the country.

Last month Indonesia rejected a US request for the creation of a WTO panel to settle the dispute but late Wednesday the trade ministry said it had eased the restrictions.

The number of horticultural products regulated has been reduced by 18, the trade ministry said in a statement, adding that the new rules came into force on Monday. It made no mention of the WTO dispute.

The import of only 39 products would now be regulated, the ministry said. Products that are no longer regulated include garlic, garlic powder, chili powder and cabbage.

For those that are still regulated, the process to apply for import permits had been simplified and could now be done online.

"We want the permit process to be simpler and administration of imports to be more orderly so that a higher degree of business certainty can be achieved," said ministry official Bachrul Chairi.

The case has put Indonesia under the spotlight at a time that former trade minister Mari Pangestu is in the running to lead the WTO, and as the country gears up to host the trade body's ministerial meeting later this year.