TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
RI launches safeguard measures probe into textile imports
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A worker completes production of sarong cloth in a textile factory in Majalaya industrial estate in Bandung regency, West Java on Jan. 4, 2019. Occupational health and safety remain a cause for concern in the country. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
T
he government has initiated an investigation into textile import products as an initial step to safeguard the domestic industry against foreign shipments.
Working under the Trade Ministry, the Indonesian Trade Safeguard Committee (KPPI) is spearheading the probe after receiving a formal request from the Indonesian Textile Association (API) this September.
A declining number of employees in the domestic textile industry and local producers’ shrinking market share are among the indicators that the ministry considered in launching the investigation.
“The KPPI found a preliminary indication of serious harm or the threat of serious harm to the domestic industry as a result of surging [textile product] imports,” interim KPPI head Nugraheni Prasetya Hastuti said in a press statement released on Friday.
The products under investigation include cotton woven fabrics, artificial filament yarn, cotton sewing thread, cotton yarn and woven fabrics of artificial filament yarn.
Indonesia’s imports of these products have increased to 29,908 tonnes over the past four years from just 14,843 tonnes in 2019, the ministry said, citing Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data.
Data from the International Trade Centre’s Trade Map shows Indonesian imports of cotton products reached US$2 billion last year with China contributing over 24 percent of the value, at $515,774, followed by Australia and Brazil, at $415,948 and $370,671, respectively.
