By: Daniel C.K. Chow
PDF: New U.S. Strategy
In the wake of the war in Ukraine that disrupted global agricultural supply chains, Indonesia imposed export bans on its agrifood products important to the United States. The fourth largest country in the world by population, Indonesia is also an important export market for US agrifoods such as soybeans, poultry, and beef. Indonesia has also imposed export bans on natural resources such as minerals vital for industrial production, thus threatening US security interests. The challenge for the United States is how to enforce World Trade Organization (WTO) rules against Indonesian agricultural trade barriers in light of the crippled WTO dispute settlement system that is no longer able to enforce WTO obligations.
This Article proposes a new approach for the United States that involves using the dispute system of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific, of which Indonesia is a member. RCEP expressly incorporates WTO rules and has a fully functioning dispute settlement system. Partnering with Australia, also a RCEP member, the United States can enforce WTO rules in RCEP against Indonesian agricultural trade barriers to protect vital US interests.