Washington,
June 14, 2013
The parties discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral trade issues, including their close cooperation within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and their cooperation on this year’s World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial session. Indonesia will host both the WTO ministerial session and the APEC Leaders’ Meeting later in 2013.
U.S. goods trade with Indonesia totaled $26 billion in 2012, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Two-way services trade totaled $2.1 billion in 2011, the latest year for which data are available. U.S. exports of agricultural products to Indonesia totaled $2.5 billion in 2012, making Indonesia the eighth-largest export market for U.S. agricultural products. U.S. foreign direct investment in Indonesia in 2011 was $11.6 billion, mostly in the energy and mining sectors.
The TIFA session was co-chaired by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Barbara Weisel and Indonesian Ministry of Trade Director-General for International Trade Cooperation Iman Pambagyo. The U.S. team also included representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, State, Homeland Security and Treasury, as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The United States sought to address concerns related to the growing number of measures Indonesia has implemented to restrict access to its market in the agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and telecommunications sectors, as well as concerns related to Indonesian investment restrictions, according to USTR. The two countries continued discussions June 14, with an agenda focused on intellectual property rights, and were scheduled to meet with U.S. and Indonesian business representatives to obtain their input on key issues of concern.
The TIFA is the main forum for the trade and investment discussions between the United States and Indonesia. Officials meet regularly both in formal TIFA meetings and informally to address bilateral issues, discuss ways to build the bilateral trade and investment relationship, and to coordinate with respect to APEC, WTO and Association of Southeast Asian Nations issues.