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View all search resultsLet’s not give up on trade
While EU authorities would deny that protectionism is the main motive and would point instead to what they deem to be unfair trade practices on Indonesia’s part, the duties in effect protect EU-based steelmakers and rapeseed biodiesel producers.
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Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, and Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, sign documents during a ceremony on Sept. 23 on the substantive conclusion of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) in Nusa Dua, Bali. (REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo)
E
uropean Union appeals against recent World Trade Organization rulings in Indonesia’s favor fly in the face of the hard-won Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA).
Since EU representatives came to Bali in September for a signing ceremony on the landmark free trade agreement, the same trade bloc has appealed two WTO rulings meant to support Indonesian exports of biodiesel and stainless steel.
Because the WTO’s appeals process has been dysfunctional for years due to obstruction from the United States, the EU can maintain its punishing import duties imposed on those goods shipped from Indonesia, even though the WTO ruled against the duties.
The EU has been charging countervailing duties of 8 to 18 percent on Indonesian biodiesel since 2019 and antidumping duties of 9.3 to 20.2 percent on stainless steel since 2021, later adding countervailing duties of up to 21.4 percent.
Jakarta has expressed its dissatisfaction in both cases, admitting, however, that it was within Brussels’ legal right to lodge the appeals.
The CEPA deal is slated for ratification by the end of next year, but it requires extensive legal scrubbing in both jurisdictions. Even once implemented, the trade agreement would have no direct bearing on trade-remedy measures like countervailing or antidumping duties, which are aimed, for instance, at offsetting alleged subsidies or dumping.
While EU authorities would deny that protectionism is the main motive and would point instead to what they deem to be unfair trade practices on Indonesia’s part, the duties in effect protect EU-based steelmakers and rapeseed biodiesel producers.
