Indonesia is among a group of 13 countries that may lose preferential trade benefits from the United States due to a U.S. plan to review the policy, the newspaper The Jakarta Post reported Wednesday.

Nearly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of Indonesian exports to the U.S. -- currently part of the General System of Preferences (GSP) program -- could be at stake, with the potential to jeopardize the livelihood of local industries whose products currently enjoy the duty-free treatment, the newspaper said.

Particularly vulnerable is Indonesia's footwear industry, with foot apparel goods making up the bulk of the country's GSP- eligible exports.

According to data from the Indonesian Footwear Association, some 65 percent of Indonesia's annual 1.5 billion dollars footwear exports go to the U.S. shoe market.

Indonesia's 1.6 billion dollars GSP-eligible exports accounts for 13 percent of the 12 billion dollars worth of goods that the U. S. imported last year from Indonesia.

"The situation is like this: Our footwear industry is still weak, while we have to keep costs and prices down to survive in our main focus in the highly competitive U.S. upper-class shoe market," footwear association chairman Eddy Widjanarko was quoted as saying.

There are 10 shoe factories in Indonesia, each employing some 2, 000 workers, that focus on exporting to the U.S. market, according to Eddy.

Other products such as plywood, copper ore, and tuna also receive the duty-free GSP treatment. The goods are among the 11 products that the U.S. added to Indonesia's GSP list of products in 2001.

Indonesia, with Thailand, also received 500 million dollars worth of GSP-eligible products in the wake of the 2004 tsunami disaster.

Source: Xinhua