Jakarta. Indonesia has denied forced labor allegations as the US launched an unfair trade probe into Southeast Asia’s biggest economy in a bid to construct a new tariff assault.

Just a few days ago, the Donald Trump 2.0 administration launched investigations into Indonesia and 59 other economies to examine whether they had failed to block imports of goods made with forced labor. The Jakarta Globe asked Airlangga Hartarto — Indonesia’s economic tsar and the chief tariff negotiator — what sort of steps the government had taken to bar such goods from entering the market. Airlangga responded with claims that there is no unfree labor in the country.

“Indonesia is not a colonialist. We don’t believe in forced labor,” Airlangga told a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday evening.

He went on to say how the Indonesian workers’ rights had always been under scrutiny, including in Jakarta’s decade-long trade deal negotiations with the European Union (EU). Countries have accused the Indonesian palm oil industry of child labor, although reality says otherwise, according to Airlangga. 

“They [foreign governments] misinterpret the presence of kids playing in oil palm plantations. These children are not there as labor. Their parents, who are plantation workers, brought their children to work,” Airlangga said. 

“I always tell them that not every family has babysitters.”

Indonesia’s tariff deal with Washington — which both governments signed last month shortly before the tide-turning US Supreme Court ruling — already covers unfree labor. It specifically asks Indonesia to prohibit imports of goods “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or compulsory labor”.

Trump’s forced-labor probe targets six other ASEAN nations besides Indonesia. They are Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand. The Globe asked Airlangga whether there were talks among the Southeast Asian nations following the trade investigations. 

“We are always in communication with ASEAN members,” Airlangga replied.

The first hearing is slated for April 28. In the meantime, Indonesia has begun consulting with the US government and is willing to share the data needed. Washington’s concerns over forced labor put emphasis on the economic aspects. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has accused the practices have allowed to foreign manufacturers of gaining an unfair upper hand.

“For too long, American workers and firms have been forced to compete against foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage gained from the scourge of forced labor,” said Greer.

The US has also initiated a separate probe into Indonesia’s manufacturing production capacity. The hearing is set to take place on May 5.

The US Supreme Court has declared Trump’s tariff policies — which had prompted Jakarta to sign a one-sided deal — as unconstitutional. Trump has railed against the ruling by launching a new 10% global tariff that will expire on July 24, unless extended by the Congress. He has vowed to raise the temporary duty to 15%. 

At home, Indonesia hopes to stick to the terms of the agreement signed prior to the ruling, as the document has granted tariff exemptions on key products such as palm oil. The pact also allows a to-be-specified volume of Indonesian textile and apparel goods to access the US market at zero reciprocal tariff rate.

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