Economist Says There Is Potential Risk For National Industry From Permendag 8/2024

JAKARTA - Economist from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said there is a potential risk for the sustainability of the national industry from the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 8 of 2024 which revised the Minister of Trade Regulation 36/2023 concerning the Prohibition of Restrictions on Imported Goods.

"This may be a short term, short term will accelerate or overcome container buildup solutions, but in the medium or long term there is a risk to the domestic industry," said Head of research group for Knolwedge-Based Economy (Digital Economist/Digital Economist) Center for Macroeconomic and Finance BRIN Bahtiar Rifai quoted from ANTARA, Wednesday, May 22.

He said that industries that have the potential to be affected by this regulation include the footwear, textile, garment, furniture, and clothing sectors because the sector manufacturers are dominated by small and medium industry players (IKM).

Therefore, it is feared that domestic industrial products will not be able to compete with imported goods produced by large-scale industries.

"The consumer only looks at prices, especially in the economic class which are on a limited purchasing power. This is then at a time when the national industry with a certain economic scale, especially the micro, small industry, is unable to compete with, for example, large-scale industries," he said.

He provided a solution so that the relevant institutions sat down together to solve this problem.

Things that can be done include making a quick study regarding obstacles that occur in the field.

Furthermore, by providing relaxation for raw materials, auxiliary materials, and intermediaries needed by the national industry.

Previously, the government issued Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 8 of 2024 which revised Permendag 36/2023 concerning the Prohibition of Restrictions on Imported Goods.

The issuance of Permendag 8/2024 aims to overcome problems that arise due to the implementation of Permendag 36/2023 in conjunction with 3/2024 in conjunction with 7/2024 which tightens imports and adds import licensing requirements in the form of technical regulations (pertek).

Since its enactment on March 10, 2024, container buildup has occurred in several main ports, such as Tanjung Priok, Tanjung Perak, Tanjung Emas, and others, due to the not yet issuance of Import Approval (PI) and Pertek for a number of commodities, such as steel, textiles, textile products, chemical products, electronic products, and other commodities.

The number of containers detained reached 17,304 at Tanjung Priok Port and 9,111 containers at Tanjung Perak Port.