Indonesia presses EU to scrap stainless steel tariffs after WTO ruling

A logo is pictured outside WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, September 28, 2021.
Reuters

Indonesia on Friday (3 October) urged the European Union to immediately remove the countervailing and anti-dumping duties on its stainless steel products, after a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel backed the Southeast Asian country.

The WTO panel on Thursday said the EU had acted inconsistently with some WTO rules in a dispute over its duties on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products from Indonesia and called on the bloc to bring its measures into conformity with an agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures.

"Indonesia's victory in this dispute is a major achievement in ensuring market access for Indonesian stainless steel in the EU and other countries. We urge the EU to respect the WTO Panel's ruling and immediately lift the unlawful countervailing duties," Trade Minister Budi Santoso said in a ministry statement.

Indonesia took the EU to the WTO in 2023, saying its anti-dumping tariffs of 10.2%–20.2% on stainless steel since 2021 severely hurt exports.

On top of that, the EU has also imposed countervailing duties of up to 21.4% since 2022.

"The Indonesian government will continue to monitor so that this decision could be swiftly adopted, thereby further opening up market access for Indonesian stainless steel in the EU," Budi added.

The case is among a number of trade disputes between the EU and Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, even as they finalised negotiations on a free trade deal last month.

Last week, the EU said it will appeal the WTO panel ruling that backed Indonesia over a dispute on the EU's import duties on Indonesian biodiesel.

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