Indonesia Trade Policy Adjustment To Reduce Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers After the Implementation of IJEPA in 2008

Abstract

The Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) is an economic cooperation agreement that became effective starting in 2008. This cooperation aims to expand the market and increase the volume of trade between the two countries. In achieving its goals, Indonesia made adjustments by forming policies related to IJEPA. This paper will analyze this. The research method used in this paper is a descriptive qualitative method. The data collected in this paper was obtained from official Indonesian government sources, namely the Minister of Finance of The Republic of Indonesia Regulation, and the IJEPA basic agreement-implementing agreement and journals as a secondary data. The author argues that Indonesia will adjust policies to reduce trade barriers in order to maximize the IJEPA cooperation scheme. This research finds that tariff and non-tariff barriers still exist. This is proven by the regulations issued by the Minister of Finance which aim to adjust the basic agreement-implementing agreement between the two countries which contains trade agreements. However, the author analyzes that the remaining two barriers are still effective for protection purposes from the categories of low-quality goods and criminal goods. This is proven through the contents of regulations that are closer to standardization and trade procedures.