US Import Tariffs From RI To 19 Percent, Freeport Waits For Certainty For Copper

JAKARTA - President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia Tony Wenas said, he was still waiting for the details of the certainty of mining product export rates, especially copper to the United States (US).

"The details are not yet known. But earlier it was praised (by US President Donald Trump) that the quality of copper in Indonesia is good," Tony said when met at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday.

As previously reported, US President Donald Trump stated that Indonesia has high quality copper, following the announcement of a reduction in reciprocal rates from 32 percent to 19 percent.

"19 percent is definitely better than 32 percent. But this is still not final. Hopefully it can go down again," he said.

Following Trump's statement and a potential increase in copper production capacity for the US market, Tony said it was unlikely to be done.

Di Tambang tidak bisa, ketika ada permintaan kita meningkatkan kapasitas produksi. Tidak bisa seperti itu karena rencana induk (main plan) kita sudah direncanakan dengan memperhatikan daya dukungan, safety, ketersediaan, dan lain sebagainya, ujar Tony.

"And this has been planned for a long time, unlike manufacturing that can (increase production following a large number of requests). Because our raw materials come from within the ground, it must be in accordance with the plan, mined in a sequence," he added.

When asked how this tariff policy affected the copper trade to the US, Tony said, so far Uncle Sam's country is not the main export destination country.

"We've never sold it to America so far. So far, most of the exports have been to China," he said.

In addition, he also admitted that there were still no considerations to move the main market from China to the US.

"To move the market? If you go to America it's far away, (it will take delivery time) 45 days. Meanwhile, when you go to China, it's only 7 days of shipping, and China consumes 50 percent of the copper in this world," Tony said.

"So, yes, that means why should you move, right? But the point is that if we are called international trade, trade is borderless, right? Where is there a market there (we enter)," he added.