Kadin: Both Trump And Biden, Have A Negative Impact On The Business World

JAKARTA - Indonesian businessmen are waiting for the confirmation of the winner of the US Presidential Election (Pilpres) between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for International Relations, Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, said that each has plus and minus values for the country's economy.

What is clear, according to Shinta, is that Indonesia needs to be prepared to face new challenges after the official US election results emerge. The two candidates are considered to still have the opportunity to have a positive impact on Indonesia's trade performance.

"We cannot say that the Trump administration or Biden, the president of the Democratic or Republican Party is better or worse for Indonesia and Indonesian business actors," said Shinta in a statement received by VOI, Thursday, November 5.

Whoever is elected later, the US remains a superpower whose policies are sure to affect economies around the world. It's just that, said Shinta, the two candidates have different styles in making policies, so this needs to be anticipated in order to continue to provide benefits for Indonesia.

"Their styles are both different, and the effect of their policies is also different. We must be flexible in adjusting ourselves, both through the attractiveness of the domestic business and investment climate as well as through lobbying, so that the benefits of the US President's policies remain on the Indonesian side," he explained.

Speaking about Trump, Shinta explained, the incumbent's leadership style had a positive impact so far, especially in terms of bilateral agreements. This of course can be used by Indonesia to become a US trade partner and create new, faster agreements.

"Trump provides an opportunity for Indonesia to lobby and create bilateral trade or investment deals. This is almost impossible for us to create if the President is not Trump," said Shinta.

But on the other hand, Trump is a President who moves based on his own sentiments. So, if the country he doesn't like, will have an impact on the partnership with the US itself, China for example.

"Indonesia has also been affected, such as conducting a partnership review twice related to market access to maintain the Generalize System of Preference (GSP). Because of Trump's policy too, the Dispute Settlement mechanism at the WTO (appellate body) is not functioning so the cases we want winning through the WTO is difficult to have fast progress, "he explained.

Meanwhile, if Biden wins the US Presidential Election, Shinta said, it will also have a negative impact, especially the emphasis on fair trade from the Democratic Party candidate. The cases of trade remedies carried out by the US bilaterally or multilaterally against Indonesia are likely to increase.

"This could threaten or even kill the national flagship export if we lose. For example, Indonesia's defeat is related to the dispute over Indonesia's horticultural import policy that the US protested at the WTO, or the US anti-dumping and anti-subsidies decision on Indonesian biofuels which makes us no longer competitive to export. biofuels to the US from 2-3 years ago, "he concluded.