RI widely accused of price dumping

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/10/2009 2:44 PM  

More than 20 countries have accused Indonesia of "dumping" its export products on the international market, a Trade Ministry official says. 

"Countries that have lodged reports include India, South Africa, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, several countries in the European Union (EU), Malaysia, the US, Turkey, Canada, Peru, Argentina, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia and South Korea," Trade Ministry trade security and monitoring director Martua Sihombing said, as quoted by Antara recently. 

Dumping is the practice where a manufacturer exports products to another country at prices below those charged on the market in its home country or even below home production costs, while anti-dumping measures are those adopted to counter such practices (for example, by imposing additional import duties). 

"Dumping accusations have become somewhat of a trend in the current economic climate," Martua said. 

A list of 20 products Indonesia has been accused of dumping includes paper, toilet paper, stationary, aluminum, dry batteries, tires, steel, textiles, ready-to-wear garments, synthetic fibres, pharmaceuticals, bicycles and motorcycles, he said. 

"The most common products we have been accused of dumping are made from steel and metals. This is because such products are in a volatile sector vis-a-vis imported products," he said, adding that the government would need to step in to resolve the complaints. 

Between 1995 and 2008, Martua said, around 180 accusations of dumping were lodged against Indonesia. 

"But 85 of these were dismissed because there was no proof ... We followed through with 76 of the complaints and are currently processing 19 others," he said. 

Last December, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) predicted the number of dumping cases and accusations would soar this year, as countries move to protect their local industries in the global economic slowdown. 

Recently the Indonesian government was urged by manufacturers to take Australia to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after it imposed anti-dumping duties on Indonesian tissue paper. However, the government would first need to analyze all necessary legal aspects of this case before making such a decision, Trade Ministry international trade cooperation director general Gusmardi Bustami said recently. 

The Australian Customs Service imposed additional anti-dumping duties of 8 percent and 40 percent on top of the existing 5 percent tariff on tissue paper products, after it found in December that China was dumping those products on the Australian market. 

Another case involved the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (APKI), which lodged a protest with the Malaysian government for extending its anti-dumping duty on imported newsprint paper. 

According to APKI, Malaysia should have revoked its anti-dumping policy in September last year, after slapping on a safeguard duty since 2003. APKI argued that the anti-dumping policy could only be applied for five years based on the existing regulations of the World Trade Organization. 

However, Malaysia eventually decided to extend the policy and relaunch an investigation into the dumping allegations - which may take six months until March. (hdt)