Jakarta. The Indonesian government has stated that it had prepared strong arguments and evidence following US unfair trade probes.

The US has opened investigations into Indonesia's excess production capacity. There is also a separate probe that aims to determine whether Indonesia has failed to block imports of goods made with forced labor. According to Haryo Limanseto, the spokesperson at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Indonesia has made preparations. Both governments have also discussed these matters in their reciprocal trade agreement signed last month.

"So the most important thing now is to prepare arguments that Indonesia has implemented or has provisions in place to safeguard these matters," Haryo said.

The ministry has held meetings with the relevant government agencies and industry associations in response to the probes.  

The government is also planning to set up a coordination team to follow up on the investigation and hold consultations with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

"We hope the consultation process can proceed ahead of schedule. This way, we can provide evidence that we have implemented the established regulations," Haryo said.

The coordination team is a cross-agency team that prepares arguments and evidence based on legal, regulatory, and data analysis. This evidence in question will demonstrate that Indonesian regulations address anti-dumping, countervailing practices, and forced labor. It also shows that the production capacity of Indonesia's manufacturing sector complies with international trade rules, prohibits forced labor, and provides legal action against potential violations, according to Haryo.

"Regarding excess production capacity in the manufacturing sector for export, it does not violate WTO rules if there is no dumping or other unfair trade practices, such as predatory pricing," he said.

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