Indonesia to impose up to 200 percent import tariffs on Chinese goods

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia will soon impose up to 200 percent import tariffs on Chinese goods to ease the impact of the ongoing trade war between China and the United States.

Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on Friday, June 28, 2024, that the policy will come into effect after the relevant regulation is issued.

He explained that the trade war is causing oversupply in China as its products are rejected by Western countries, forcing it to redirect exports to other markets such as Indonesia.

Hasan noted that tariffs on products made in China will range from 100 to 200 percent.

“U.S. could impose 200 percent tariffs on imported pottery and clothing; we too can do this to ensure the survival and growth of our SMEs and industries,” he noted.

New ministerial regulations are being developed to address stakeholder concerns about the insufficiency of previous regulations in protecting local industries from the influx of products made in China.

Minister of Trade Regulation No. 37 of 2023, the first regulation of its kind, established import controls through a post-border mechanism and controls on imported products.

The regulation also capped the US$500 amount for tax-exempt personal products that Indonesian workers migrating to the country could take with them. The price of these products was only 56 pieces.

“Regulation No. 37 could have restricted and controlled imports,” Hasan stressed. However, the new arrangement has resulted in a backlog of customs checks due to additional checks on migrant workers’ luggage.

“Our migrant workers were furious and our customs agency was not prepared to handle the increased volume of products,” he said.

To address this issue, the government amended the Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 7 of 2024, which abolished the tax exemption limitation for 56 products.

However, the bottleneck remained, with cargo containers piling up at various ports. This led to Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 8 of 2024.

“But again, our industries, especially textiles, complained and demanded the restoration of Regulation No. 37,” Hasan said.

ANTARA

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