【油脂油料】印尼DSI将于1月1日起征收出口验证费，关注美国中期选举结果及后续政策——每日观察

English version

What happened

Indonesia's DSI will start charging an export verification fee from 1 January, while markets also watch the US midterm election results and subsequent policy.

The economics

An export verification fee acts like an added charge on exports, raising exporters' costs, which can reduce export supply and push up prices of the affected goods; it is a form of trade barrier and government intervention. Students can draw a leftward shift of supply with a higher price, and discuss how the fee affects trade volumes between exporting and importing countries.

Figures to quote

• 310 US cents/bushel
• 158 US cents/bushel

Evaluation

The price effect depends on elasticity of demand: if import demand is inelastic, prices rise more while trade volumes fall less; moreover, post-election US policy changes may shift expectations at the same time, so one factor alone cannot explain all price movements.

Practice question

Using the material, analyse the effect of Indonesia's export verification fee on the international market price and trade volume of the affected goods.