The National Potato Council (NPC) applauds the U.S. Trade Representative’s victory in the World Trade Organization (WTO) case against Indonesia’s restrictive import licensing scheme. The ruling will increase potato exports and demonstrates the value of the WTO in fairly resolving trade disputes. The potato industry appreciates the commitment by the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative to initiate and successfully conclude this important case.
Indonesia is an important market for U.S. potato exports. Due to their illegal import licensing scheme, U.S. frozen potato exports to Indonesia amounted to only $18 million in 2016. By comparison, the smaller, neighboring market of Malaysia has no restrictive import licensing requirements and shipments of similar potato products there exceeded $41 million in 2016.
“This is an important step in advancing the effort to have fair, balanced trade with our key trading partners,” says NPC executive vice president John Keeling. “As a result of the efforts of USTR and the final ruling by the WTO this week, we expect the trade-restrictive Indonesian import licensing system will be dismantled and believe it will result in greater potato exports to the fourth-most populous country in the world.”