JAKARTA - Special Staff to the Minister of Trade (Mendag) for the International Trade Agreement, Bara Krishna Hasibuan, said the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) was ready to face the consequences of the government's decision to prohibit the export of bauxite.
"We are ready with the consequences of the policies that have been decided, taken by the President (Joko Widodo / Jokowi) and the government to prohibit the export of bauxite in order to strengthen Indonesia's industrialization process," Bara said in a media discussion in Lampung, quoted from Antara, Thursday, March 2.
Bara explained that the consequence in question is the possibility of a lawsuit that will be carried out by China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) because China is the largest market for Indonesian bauxite exports.
In 2022, Indonesia will lose to the European Union (EU) lawsuit related to the ban on exporting raw nickel. However, Indonesia will appeal the decision.
According to Bara, if China filed a lawsuit with the WTO, this would be the third case being prosecuted at the WTO after nickel and palm oil (CPO).
"If the consequences are also (trialed), we will be prosecuted by China, of course the Ministry of Trade is ready to help the government face a lawsuit," Bara said.
The government is serious about downstreaming a number of commodities. After nickel, the process of processing mining raw materials will be continued to other commodities such as bauxite, copper, tin, and gold.
Indonesia has implemented a ban on nickel ore exports since January 2020 as stated in the Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 11 of 2019 concerning the Second Amendment to Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 25 of 2018 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining.
Since the 2-year ban on nickel exports, according to President Jokowi, Indonesia has picked up quite a lot of benefits. This is one of the encouragements for the government to implement similar policies for other mining commodities.
Bauxite processed and purified can become an alumina that is worth eight times the value. Alumina, which is upgraded to aluminum, will be worth up to 30 times compared to when it was still in the form of bauxite ore.
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