VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Jusuf Kalla opined that the trade war between the United States and China had direct and indirect impact on the Indonesian economy.

"The United States and Chinese trade war has an impact on us, directly and indirectly," he stated after attending the National Workshop of "Caring for Peace: Learning from Conflict Resolution and Peace in Maluku for United, Sovereign, Adjust and Prosperous Indonesia," at the JS Luwansa Hotel, Jakarta, on Tuesday, July 10.

The direct impact of trade tensions between the two countries on Indonesia is the evaluation of Indonesian export products by the United States government through a generalized system of preferences (GSP) evaluation system.

"The immediate impact is that the United States is considering to evaluate the GSP, which gives eminence to developing countries, including Indonesia," he explained.

Currently, the US government is evaluating around 124 Indonesian export products, including textiles, cotton, and fishery products, such as shrimp and crabs. The US import evaluation policy is undertaken to determine what type of products are still eligible to enter the country.

Meanwhile, the indirect impact of the trade war is the value of Indonesia`s raw material exports to China that declined due to weak industrial production of the country.

"Hence, our effort aims to stabilize the domestic economy, so it is not only exports but our domestic consumers can grow into new markets," he added.

The US import evaluation policy is a unilateral trade policy generally owned by developed countries to assist the developing country`s economy, but not binding on both the giving and receiving countries.(ANTARA)