I just don't understand trade culture

[Levin]

https://twitter.com/Trade_EU/status/1349731324723036164

Why can't a nation protect their raw materials? I feel I'm missing something really obvious beyond EU industry wanting something and Indonesia not wanting to be exploited.

[ad hoc]

I'm with you. Seems totally bizarre.

[WOM]

Well, not at all. They signed GATT, which means they can't restrict exports of certain minerals / materials for the benefit of their own domestic production. It's actually fairly straightforward.

[Incandenza]

I see that "fair trade" has lost its original meaning and now means that one side should be able to take whatever it wants from a different country.

[pebblethefish]

See, that's what the EU get up to now they haven't got our firm yet fair hand upon the tiller.

[ursus arctos]

The argument is that the severe nature of the restrictions imposed violates international agreements to which Indonesia agreed decades ago and Indonesia's obligations as a member of the WTO

International trade law is often fiendishly complex and I don't know anywhere near close to enough of the relevant law and facts to have a view on the merits, but the claim itself doesn't seem bizarre at all.

[Ginger Yellow]

Well, legally it's because it's (allegedly) an unfair subsidy of domestic producers of the end product and barred under WTO rules, with some exceptions. Whether those should be the rules is another matter.