Revise China pact: Indonesia to ASEAN

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The China Post (Taiwan)

JAKARTA -- Indonesia notified its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it wants the group's free trade agreement with China to be revised, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.
In a letter to the ASEAN secretariat, the Indonesian government sought to “renegotiate” some parts of the accord, which took effect at the start of the year, Pangestu said. “We have also held some informal communication to get a win-win solution,” she told reporters in Jakarta, without saying when the letter was sent.
China's agreement with the 10 members of ASEAN scrapped tariffs on about 90 percent of goods, and duties must be cut to no more than 50 percent on “highly sensitive” items by 2015. Opposition has been loudest in Indonesia, where industries including textiles, food and electronics said they will suffer from the inflow of cheaper Chinese goods. Indonesia is ASEAN's largest country by geography, population and size of the economy.
China's trade with ASEAN has jumped six fold since 2000 to US$193 billion last year. China's share of Southeast Asia's total commerce has increased to 11.3 percent from 4 percent in that time, whereas the U.S. portion fell to 10.6 percent from 15 percent, ASEAN statistics show.
Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad Hidayat said Jan. 15 there were 228 items that the government wants to delay from including in the free-trade accord, including steel and textile products. Negotiations within ASEAN might start this month and Indonesia was ready to open previously protected items as a concession, Hidayat said without elaborating.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, its members have a combined gross domestic product of more than US$1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million people.
Revise China pact: Indonesia to ASEAN
JAKARTA -- Indonesia notified its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it wants the group's free trade agreement with China to be revised, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.
In a letter to the ASEAN secretariat, the Indonesian government sought to “renegotiate” some parts of the accord, which took effect at the start of the year, Pangestu said. “We have also held some informal communication to get a win-win solution,” she told reporters in Jakarta, without saying when the letter was sent.
China's agreement with the 10 members of ASEAN scrapped tariffs on about 90 percent of goods, and duties must be cut to no more than 50 percent on “highly sensitive” items by 2015. Opposition has been loudest in Indonesia, where industries including textiles, food and electronics said they will suffer from the inflow of cheaper Chinese goods. Indonesia is ASEAN's largest country by geography, population and size of the economy.
China's trade with ASEAN has jumped six fold since 2000 to US$193 billion last year. China's share of Southeast Asia's total commerce has increased to 11.3 percent from 4 percent in that time, whereas the U.S. portion fell to 10.6 percent from 15 percent, ASEAN statistics show.
Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad Hidayat said Jan. 15 there were 228 items that the government wants to delay from including in the free-trade accord, including steel and textile products. Negotiations within ASEAN might start this month and Indonesia was ready to open previously protected items as a concession, Hidayat said without elaborating.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, its members have a combined gross domestic product of more than US$1.1 trillion and a population of about 570 million people.