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RI businesses fear deluge of Chinese goods after Trump takes office
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A worker carries a sack filled with agricultural products at Luwuk Port in Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, on Oct. 29, 2024. Over 250 dock workers, part of the Loading and Unloading Labor Cooperative (TKBM), aid in the transportation of goods and passengers to and from the Banggai Bersaudara region, which includes Banggai, Banggai Islands and Banggai Laut. (Antara Foto/Basri Marzuki)
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ndonesian businesses are concerned that restrictive trade policies from United States president-elect Donald Trump will incentivize Chinese producers to divert large quantities of goods to Southeast Asian markets and create barriers for Indonesian exports to the US.
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairwoman Shinta Kamdani told The Jakarta Post on Friday that Trump’s “strong protectionist policies” and his “America-first” approach could limit Indonesian exporters’ access to the US market.
Moreover, if Chinese producers faced similar barriers to the US market, they could reroute their goods to Southeast Asia, including to Indonesia, which would increase competition with domestic producers, she said.
Shinta added that economic pressures on China, including its trade war with the US, could reduce Chinese demand for Indonesian goods as well.
Trump, who won the US presidential election on Tuesday, has threatened 60 percent tariffs on imports from China. The figure is much higher than the rate of between 7.5 and 25 percent he imposed during his first term as president, from 2017 to 2021.
China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner in terms of both exports, worth some US$64.94 billion in 2023, and imports, worth $62.88 billion in the same year, according to Statistics Indonesia data.
The US, meanwhile, is the second-largest export market for Indonesian goods, buying $23.25 billion worth in 2023. It is also the fourth-largest source of imports to Indonesia, sending some $23.25 billion worth of goods in 2023.
