Indonesia said that China's "supply exceeds demand" and proposed to impose a maximum tariff of 200% on China

According to foreign media reports, Indonesia plans to restart its domestic industrial protection plan and impose 200% protective tariffs on Chinese goods, which is heavier than the US and Europe.

The report quoted the Indonesian Trade Minister Zurkifli Hassan as saying that if Indonesia is flooded with imported goods, its micro, small and medium-sized enterprises may face bankruptcy.

He explained that as a result of the trade war, "China's supply exceeded demand", Chinese goods were forced to export to other markets, including Indonesia, "after being rejected by the West".

Hassan said that the United States can impose a 200% tariff on imported ceramics or clothing, and Indonesia can do the same to ensure the survival and development of its small and medium-sized enterprises and industries.

Hassan continued to say that the tariff policy announced this time will come into effect after the issuance of relevant laws and regulations, which may affect the import of shoes, clothing, textiles, cosmetics and ceramics. The import tariff in the plan is more than 100% on average.

In addition, Santoso, a senior official of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, said that the Indonesian Trade Protection Commission was investigating to determine the tariff rate. According to the data of its statistics bureau, Indonesia mainly imports clothing and accessories from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

In fact, this matter has already appeared. A few days ago, some media exposed that Indonesia's textile industry was not able to compete with low-cost imported products, and textile factories were closed and laid off on a large scale.

To this end, Indonesian President Joko and his cabinet members held a special meeting to discuss the difficulties faced by the textile industry. After the meeting, the Indonesian Presidential Palace announced that it had decided to impose additional import duties and anti-dumping duties on imported textiles.

After Hassan further discussed with Indonesian Finance Minister Sili Mulyani, in addition to textiles and clothing, electronic products, shoes and ceramics will also be subject to import duties and anti-dumping duties.

According to the report issued by the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the textile import volume rose sharply, from 12.26 million dollars in January to 20.87 million dollars in February, and then to 23.98 million dollars in March. Under the impact of imported textiles, Indonesia's domestic textile business is simply unsustainable.

In less than half a year, many textile factories in Indonesia have reduced production, laid off workers and closed down. A few export-oriented textile companies can still survive, while most domestic oriented textile mills are on the verge of bankruptcy.

The textile industry is just a microcosm of the plight of Indonesian SMEs. Other industries are also facing similar problems, but to varying degrees.

In fact, there is also a contradiction. At the beginning of this year, the Indonesian industry complained to the government about the shortage of raw materials, and then Indonesia frequently adjusted its policies in just two months to relax import restrictions on specific products. However, this indirectly affected textile, ceramics, electronic products and other fields, making a large number of low-cost imports into Indonesia.

In short, Indonesia's move is not aimed at China, but all low-cost imports, but China's size is too large, so it was singled out. However, Indonesia, while pursuing a protective trade policy, also applies the Western saying of "overcapacity" to speculate about China's so-called "oversupply" without reason, which is biased.

On the other hand, while pursuing protectionist policies, Indonesia is also striving to revitalize the tourism industry, considering visa free entry policies for citizens of 20 countries, including China, the United States, Australia, etc. During the Davos Forum, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia Sandiaga Uno has confirmed this, indicating that Zoko is reviewing the visa free entry policy for Chinese tourists, and the results will be seen soon.

It must be pointed out here that protectionist policies are not in line with the trend of the times, nor conducive to global trade and economic growth. Chinese products have high cost performance and strong competitiveness, which is the result of struggling in the market competition. We cannot accept any behavior that slanders Chinese products in the name of "overcapacity".