TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmadja urged the government to limit imports of textiles and textile products from more than 700 Harmonized System (HS) codes.

Jemmy said that the flood of imported products must be limited using both Technical Considerations issued by the Ministry of Industry and the Approval of Import mechanism by the Ministry of Trade. As long as these two non-tariff regulations are not implemented to limit imports, he said, there will always be illegally imported products in Indonesia.

"We advise to limit imports as soon as we see an import surge,” he said at a hearing with Commission VI of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

According to Jemmy, imports without an import permit mechanism occur in textile products other than clothing. Jemmy also said Safeguard Duty (BMTP) for ready-made clothing already existed and will be valid up to November 2024. Meanwhile, the Safeguard Duty for other imported products will be issued on July 17, 2024.

However, Jemmy said Safeguard Duty will not solve illegal imports as it only accommodates several HS codes. In fact, there are more than 700 types of HS codes for textile and textile products. "Some will definitely look for HS loopholes to find ones that are not affected by import duties,” he told Tempo after the meeting.

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee (KADI) and the Indonesian Trade Safeguard Committee (KPPI) reviewed Indonesia's import situation over the past three years. This review would be the basis for imposing import duties on seven commodities from various countries flooding the Indonesian market.

The seven commodities are textiles and textile products, ready-made garments, ceramics, electronics, cosmetics, finished textile goods, and footwear. The percentage of the import duties can be 10 to 200 percent, depending on the KPPI and KADI investigation results.

HAN REVANDA PUTRA

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