US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and Indonesian Foreign Minster Retno LP Marsudi (Photo: The Jarkata Post/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s ForeignMinister Retno LP Marsudi said on November 1 that the country has retained itsstatus as a beneficiary of the US’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) followinga recent visit to Jakarta by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Retno said the extension of the GSP facility forIndonesian exports to the US, the decision of which was made official on October30 by the US Trade Representative (USTR), was a concrete form of strategicpartnership between the two countries.
Indonesia is one of the120 countries that havebenefited from the GSP, the oldest and largest US trade preference programme.It eliminates duties on thousands of products to promote economic developmentamong beneficiary countries and territories, the Jakarta Post reported.
The facilities have been given to developingcountries in the world since 1974. Indonesia first received GSP benefits fromthe US in 1980.
In 2018, US President Donald Trump said hisadministration would review the GSP benefits provided to several developingcountries, including Indonesia, with which the US has a trade deficit. Jakartahas since tried to lobby the US in the hopes of retaining its trade privileges.India and Thailand both saw a loss of trade privileges with the US in Octoberlast year.
Retno said the extension would bring positivebenefits not only to Indonesia but also to US businesses.
She touted the US as Indonesia's second-largestnon-oil and gas export destination country after China, with total two-waytrade value reaching 27 billion USD in 2019.
Going forward, the two countries agreed to seek amore comprehensive and permanent discussion of the Indonesia-US tradepartnership./.
VNA
