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Indonesia unconcerned about possible WTO defeat on nickel exports
Trade Ministry International Trade Negotiations Director General Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono insists Indonesia could appeal a WTO decision or use other means to protect its strategic interests.
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Nickel is processed at a factory owned by PT Vale Indonesia in this undated photograph. (JP/Ruslan Sangadji)
V
arious stakeholders appear unconcerned about the prospect of a possible defeat for Indonesia at the World Trade Organization after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo revealed the country may lose a dispute with the European Union over nickel exports.
Trade Ministry International Trade Negotiations Director General Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono noted that disputes were “common” in international trade and that Indonesia could appeal or use other means to support its strategic interests.
The important thing was not whether Indonesia would win or lose, he said, but to what extent the government could sustain the "policy platform regime."
“The final [work] of the panel is still in progress. Let’s wait and see how this turns out,” Djatmiko told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
To initiate the WTO dispute, the EU addressed a so-called request for consultations to Indonesia in November 2019 over restrictions imposed by the latter on the export of raw materials like nickel, which is required for stainless steel production.
Brussels argued that Indonesia’s curbs on nickel exports violated Article XI:1 of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
As the negotiations broke down, the EU requested in January 2021 that a WTO panel settle the dispute.
