This positive result is related to the written submission officially proposed by Indonesia's government through the Ministry of Trade.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia will be able to enjoy the United States' Generalized System of Preference (GSP) facility in the form of rate cut for five of its export commodities.

Cited from the United States Trade Representative's (USTR's) official site https://ustr.gov, the export products eligible for the GSP tariff cut are laminated bamboo plywood (HS 44121005), thin plywood measuring less than 66 mm (HS 44123141155), dried onion (HS 09082220), simple syrup, honey, caramel (HS 17029052), and rattan for hand-made souvenirs (HS 46021223).

"This positive result is linked to the written submission officially proposed by Indonesia’s government through the Ministry of Trade," Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto noted in a statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Indonesia’s trade attaché also attended a hearing with Washington to defend the suitability of products to receive the GSP facility, which the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) had observed since April, 2019.

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Apart from Indonesia, other US partner countries -- Pakistan, Thailand, Brazil, and Ecuador -- were subject to the assessment.

GSP is Washington's unilateral programme of duty-free products under which currently the number of designated beneficiary countries reaches 121, with 5,062 products of eight-digit post lines. This programme enables the production of items required by the US in addition to encouraging developing nations to conduct more exports to the US.

Initially, six Indonesian products were assessed, but stearic acid (HS 38231100) apparently failed to clear the requirements since its export value had surpassed the number of competitive need limitations.

That means Indonesian stearic acid product has its own market share in the US, as it does not need any special treatment.

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Speaking in connection with the five commodities, Suparmanto explained that the GSP facility is one of the priority issues under the trade relations between both nations, especially to "open widely the opportunities of boosting Indonesia's export volume to the US."

The government has pinned high hopes on businessmen to capitalize on the scheme.

"For now, we just have 836 products out of the 3,572 products listed on the GSP scheme," Director General of International Trade Negotiation of the Trade Ministry Iman Pambagyo stated.

The main products exported by Indonesia within the GSP programme are tires (US$138 million), gold necklace (US$126.6 million), fatty acid (US$102.3 million), jewelry (US$69 million), and leather hand bag (US$4.8 million).
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Translator: Sella Gareta, Suwanti
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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