TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartanto reminded the domestic industry to avoid distressing United States Government`s plan upon reviewing its generalized system of preference (GSP) on Indonesian export commodities that are sold in the US.

“Our communication with the United States government is ongoing. The Indonesian government will communicate with our exporters that have their products policed under the GSP,” said Arilangga today, July 13.

The minister then shifted his focus on urging domestic industries that have yet utilized the GSP scheme to further optimize the opportunity.

U.S. President Donald Trump is currently reviewing its GSP policy after he considered it to be causing the country’s trade balance to experience further deficits. The program itself has been going on since 1976 but has been dropped in 2013 and is enacted again since June 2015.

Indonesia’s national commodities that have the upper ground upon entering the US market, according to Airlangga, include vegetables, raw agricultural materials, timber, stainless steel, rubber, footwear, textile and clothes, and consumer products.

Airlangga once again reminded the industry that the U.S. government had always reviewed the GSP scheme periodically once every three years. This year, Donald Trump is set to evaluate 124 Indonesian exports ranging from textile, plywood, cotton, and several fisheries product such as crabs and shrimps.

CAESAR AKBAR