INDONESIA LOBBIES UNITED STATES

INDONESIA LOBBIES US to maintain special tariff treatment.

Indonesia lobbied visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to keep the SoutheastAsian nation on a list of countries that receive preferential trade terms, its foreign and trade ministers disclosed.

'' President Joko Widodo has delivered Indonesia's hope that the US will maintain the country's GSP [ Generalised System of Preferences ] facility,'' Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters after meeting with Pompeo.

In April, the US Trade Representative's Office said it was reviewing the eligibility of Indonesia, along with India and Kazakhstan, for the GSP based on concerns over compliance with services and investment criteria.

''Around 53% of the goods covered by the GSP are commodities with links products the US exports, while 35% are related to the production process of US products,'' Marsudi said.

Under the GSP, Indonesia gets reduced tariffs on about $2 billion worth of exports to the United States, including some agricultural, textile and timber products, the Indonesia's employers association told Reuters in July.

Total exports to the United States were were $17.8 billion - data in 2017 from Indonesia's trade ministry showed. Indonesia ran a $9.7 billion trade surplus with the United States last year.

Indonesian Trade Minister Engaggartisto Lukita said Indonesia asked the United States to exempt its  aluminium and steel products.

The minister said he and  Marsudi had met  U>S> Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington in July and agreed to raise the the value of annual US-Indonesia trade to $50 billion.

Lunkita saod Pompeo had agreed on the need to increase economic ties and and increase the countries  strategic partnership . [Agencies]