Her remarks followed discussions between the Ministry of MSMEs and House Commission VII on a plan to impose import restrictions on 10 commodities, including products originating from China.
“We cannot impose restrictions arbitrarily, as this could trigger complaints from abroad. If we impose them unilaterally, other countries could retaliate by imposing tariffs on our products,” Helvi told ANTARA on the sidelines of an event at the Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC) on Wednesday.
She said that while every country has the right to protect its domestic industries, such measures must be accompanied by balanced trade diplomacy.
According to Helvi, international trade requires reciprocal agreements between countries, under which each party agrees to accept the other’s products.
She also said President Joko Widodo has instructed the Ministry of MSMEs to advocate for MSME products so they can compete in both domestic and global markets.
“If a product can already be manufactured domestically, why shouldn’t we protect it? The principle is that MSMEs must be safeguarded, nurtured and developed,” Helvi said.
She added that such policies cannot be determined solely by the Ministry of MSMEs, but must be formulated through inter-ministerial coordination involving the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance and other relevant technical ministries.
Such coordination, Helvi said, is necessary to ensure that the policy does not provoke negative reactions from trading partners.
She also stressed that any import restrictions would not apply exclusively to products from China, but to all imported goods that can already be produced domestically.
Currently, discussions on the proposed import restrictions for the 10 commodities are still ongoing among relevant ministries, Helvi said.
Earlier, MSME Minister Maman Abdurrahman described low-cost imports from China as a “frightening spectre” that could threaten the survival of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Indonesia.
Speaking during a working meeting with Commission VII of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday (Jan. 20), Maman said cheap Chinese imports could undermine the effectiveness of various government intervention programmes.
He therefore proposed import restrictions on at least 10 commodities that can already be produced domestically, with significant involvement from MSME players.
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Translator: Shofi, Azis Kurmala
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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