The National Potato Council issued a press release today applauding the “U.S. Trade Representative’s victory in the World Trade Organization (WTO) case against Indonesia’s restrictive import licensing scheme.” NPC says the ruling will increase potato exports. The press release went on to say, “The potato industry appreciates the commitment by the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative to initiate and successfully conclude this important case.”
“Indonesia is an important market for U.S. potato exports. Due to their illegal import licensing scheme, U.S. frozen potato exports to Indonesia amounted to only $18 million in 2016. By comparison, the smaller neighboring market of Malaysia has no restrictive import licensing requirements and shipments of similar potato products there exceeded $41 million in 2016.”
