Indonesian manufacturers urge govt to delay China-ASEAN FTA
Thomson Reuters | 29 July 2009
Indonesian manufacturers urge govt to delay China-ASEAN FTA
JAKARTA, July 29 (Reuters) — Indonesian manufacturers have asked the government to delay a free-trade pact between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, as it may hurt local firms, a senior industry official said on Wednesday.
China signed an initial free trade agreement with the 10 members of ASEAN in November 2002, and both sides had set 2010 as a deadline for a broader pact. The major ASEAN economies include Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
Under the agreement, import taxes on manufactured goods including textiles, footwear, and electronics will be scrapped. Manufacturers are worried that cheaper Chinese products will flood the local market, said Benny Soetrisno, head of trade at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.
’In the national interest, we ask the government to lobby other ASEAN countries to delay the schedule for lowering tariffs for the manufacturing industry,’ Soetrisno said.
Indonesia’s trade deficit with China widened to $7.16 billion in 2008, from $1.29 billion in 2007, Soetrisno said, quoting data from the state statistics agency.
To protect local consumers ahead of the free trade pact with China, Soetrisno said the government should do take various steps including imposing national standards and mandatory certification for imported products to be sold in the local market.
China-ASEAN bilateral trade is worth $231.1 billion, with two-way investment around $60 billion.
(Reporting by Yayat Supriatna; writing Fitri Wulandari, editing by Sara Webb)
