Indonesia's Mineral Export Prohibition and Legality of Export Duties Under the GATT Rules

Bani Adam, Haniff Ahamat

Abstract


The development of electric vehicles has been becoming a global trend to tackle worsening air pollution. The rich mineral country desires to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) through transportation transformation by building a domestic-based battery vehicle industry. The policy resulted in importing export restrictions on nickel ore and bauxite by the Indonesian government. However, the measures are inconsistent with Article XI.1 of the GATT rules, which forbid imposing restrictions on the global market. There are cases in WTO DSB deciding that export restrictions infringe the provision, such as in China – Raw Materials (DS394) and China – Rare Earth (DS431) cases. In such cases, adjudicators also do not justify the imposition of export duties for the members. Meanwhile, Article XI.1 does not prohibit the imposition of export duties as another option to impose export restraints. The Indonesian authority could apply the measures. This Article analyses Indonesia's justification for imposing export control through the GATT rules. The research is conducted based on a normative juridical approach in which the sources come from the rules of GATT and its DSB decision to analyse the extent to which the measures are allowed to take into force for the member regarding the GATT provisions. The Article finds that Indonesia may be justified in the imposition of export duties to control the export of both raw materials. Article XI.1 of GATT justifies the original and accepted members to impose the duties measures as there are unclear provisions on export prohibition, which means Indonesia could enforce the charge of duties implicitly.

Keywords


Article XI GATT 1994; DSB Decisions; Export Ban, Export Quota; Indonesia; The EU.

Full Text:

PDF

References


REFERENCES

Afifah, Laila, and Ririe Ranggasari. “Minister Confirms Indonesia Will Stop Exporting Tin, Bauxite This Year.” TEMPO.CO, 2022. https://en.tempo.co/read/1592798/minister-confirms-indonesia-will-stop-exporting-tin-bauxite-this-year.

Armia, Muhammad Siddiq. “The Role of Indonesian In Protecting Energy Security Perlindungan Hukum Terhadap Ketahanan Energi Nasional Melalui Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi,” 2016.

Asmarini, Wilda. “Indonesia to Consider Expediting Export Ban on Bauxite, and Others.” Reuters, 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/indonesia-metals-idUSL3N2631IS.

Espa, Ilaria. Export Restrictions on Critical Minerals and Metals – Testing the Adequacy of WTO Disciplines. Cambridge: International Trade and Economic Law, 2015.

Fitri, M. Fadly, I Nyoman N, Slamet Suhartono, and Budiarsih Budiarsih. “Policy Renewal of Indonesian Mineral and Coal Smelters for Global Impact.” Technium Social Sciences Journal 27 (2022): 379–83. https://doi.org/10.47577/tssj.v27i1.5584.

Garside, M. “Bauxite Imports and Exports Worldwide from 2005 to 2020,” 2021.

Henckens, Theo. “Scarce Mineral Resources: Extraction, Consumption and Limits of Sustainability.” Resources, Conservation and Recycling 169, no. October 2020 (2021): 105511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105511.

Kazeki, Jun. “Analysis of Non-Tariff Measures: The Case of Export Duties." OECD Publication, 2002.

Khemani, R.S., and D. M. Shapiro. “Glossary of Industrial Organization Economics and Competition Law.” OECD, 1993.

Kim, Jeonghoi. “Recent Trends in Export Restrictions.” OECD Trade Policy Papers, 2010.

Korinek, Jane. “Trade Restrictions on Minerals and Metals.” Mineral Economics 32, no. 2 (2019): 171–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-018-0161-z.

Mancheri, Nabeel A, Benjamin Sprecher, Gwendolyn Bailey, Jianping Ge, and Arnold Tukker. "Resources, Conservation & Recycling E Ff Ect of Chinese Policies on Rare Earth Supply Chain Resilience.” Resources, Conservation & Recycling 142, no. July 2018 (2019): 101–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.017.

O’Neill, Aaron. “Average Price for Nickel Worldwide from 2014-2025,” 2020.

Pramita, Sinta Ana, I Gusti Ayu, Ketut Rachmi, and Lego Karjoko. “Constitutional Development on Mineral and Coal Governance in Indonesia” 583, no. Iceep (2021): 141–45.

Report, The WTO Appellate Body. “Brazil – Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres,” 2007.

Santana, Roy, Yong-shik Lee, Social Considerations, and Gregory Messenger. "Trade, Law and Development" IX, no. 2 (2017).

Schmid, Marc. “The Revised German Raw Materials Strategy in the Light of Global Political and Market Developments.” Review of Policy Research 38, no. 1 (2021): 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12408.

Science, Environmental. “Understanding Natural Resources Clause in Indonesia Constitution Understanding Natural Resources Clause in Indonesia Constitution,” n.d. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/940/1/012040.

Survey, US Geological. "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020," 2020.

“Trade in Mineral Resources.” WTO iLibrary, 2010.

Warwick, Filip. “Indonesia’s Domestic Demand for Nickel Ore to Jump 30% in 2022, S&P Global Commodity Insight,” 2022. https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/metals/021022-indonesias-domestic-demand-for-nickel-ore-to-jump-30-in-2022-report.

WHO. “Indonesia – Measures Relating To Raw Materials.” World Trade Organization, 2021.

Widiatedja, I Gusti Ngurah Parikesit. “Indonesia’s Export Ban on Nickel Ore: Does It Violate the World Trade Organization (WTO) Rules?” Journal of World Trade 55, no. 4 (2021): 668.

WTO. “China - Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials.” The WTO Appellate Body Report, 2012.

———. “China – Measures Related To the Exportation of Rare Earths, Tungsten, and Molybdenum.” The WTO Panel Report, 2014.

———. “India – Quantitative Restriction on Imports of Agriculture, Textile and Industrial Products.” The WTO Panel Report, 1999.

———. “Turkey – Restrictions on Imports of Textile and Clothing Products.” The WTO Panel Report, 1999.

Wu, Mark. “China’s Export Restrictions and the Limits of WTO Law.” World Trade Review 16, no. 4 (2017): 675.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.28946/slrev.Vol6.Iss2.1661.pp239-253

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License

Sriwijaya Law Review (SLRev) ISSN: 2541-5298 | e-ISSN: 2541-6464 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 
SLRev has been indexed by:
 
 
View full indexing services
 
SLRev Member of :                                    Plagiarism Detection by: