US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and Indonesian Foreign Minster Retno LP Marsudi (Photo: The Jarkata Post/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on November 1 that the country has retained its status as a beneficiary of the US’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) following a recent visit to Jakarta by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Retno said the extension of the GSP facility for Indonesian exports to the US, the decision of which was made official on October 30 by the US Trade Representative (USTR), was a concrete form of strategic partnership between the two countries.
Indonesia is one of the120 countries that have benefited from the GSP, the oldest and largest US trade preference programme. It eliminates duties on thousands of products to promote economic development among beneficiary countries and territories, the Jakarta Post reported.
The facilities have been given to developing countries in the world since 1974. Indonesia first received GSP benefits from the US in 1980.
In 2018, US President Donald Trump said his administration would review the GSP benefits provided to several developing countries, including Indonesia, with which the US has a trade deficit. Jakarta has 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 October last year.
Retno said the extension would bring positive benefits not only to Indonesia but also to US businesses.
She touted the US as Indonesia's second-largest non-oil and gas export destination country after China, with total two-way trade value reaching 27 billion USD in 2019.
Going forward, the two countries agreed to seek a more comprehensive and permanent discussion of the Indonesia-US trade partnership./.
VNA
