Lang
Indonesia is pressing Washington to negotiate a cut in palm oil import tariffs to zero percent, mirroring the arrangement already secured by Malaysia.
"These (palm oil tariff) negotiations are still ongoing. We hope that in the discussions we can at least reach an agreement similar to what Malaysia achieved," said Putu Juli Ardika, acting Director-General of Agro-Industries at the Ministry, on Wednesday.
The remark referred to Malaysia's success in reducing its US import tariff from 25 percent to 19 percent, as stipulated in the reciprocal tariff agreement recently signed with the United States.
The United States exempted leading Malaysian products such as palm oil, rubber products, wood products, aircraft components and pharmaceutical products from the 19 percent tariff, or reduced them to a zero percent, duty-free rate.
Ardika accordingly conveyed Indonesia's hopes of securing a similar outcome in its own negotiations with the United States.
According to him, imposing a zero percent tariff on Indonesian palm oil products entering the US market would help the country compete on equal terms with Malaysia in the same market.
"If we can be on a level playing field with Malaysia (with a zero percent tariff), we would be in the same league for exports (to the United States)," he affirmed.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto had stated on 30 September that the Indonesian government was still negotiating the final decision on the import tariff.
In these negotiations, Indonesia is aiming to have several of its leading commodities exempted from the 19 percent import tariff imposed by the United States.
Many of the commodities concerned, such as palm oil, rubber and cocoa, are key priorities in the negotiations.
Hartarto said he would immediately reach out to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to seek clarification on the continuation of the negotiations.
Import tariffs on Indonesian products entering the US market have already been successfully reduced to 19 percent, down from the previous rate of 32 percent.
This was decided in a high-level agreement following direct contact between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump.