Thailand
Indonesia to impose up to 10% import tariffs on downstream products
Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto has said that the government is planning to impose 7.5 to 10 percent import tariffs on downstream products in an effort to curb imports.
For raw materials, the import tariffs will be 2.5 percent.
“We are still studying the HS (harmonized system). We [will] keep the tariffs for the raw materials low while the tariffs on the downstream products will be between 7.5 and 10 percent,” Airlangga said in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kontan.co.id.
He said the government planned to complete revising the import tariffs this month to improve the current account deficit, which currently sits at 3 percent. The government has assessed 900 consumer goods with import tariffs that would be increased.
Indonesia Statistics recorded a US$2.03 billion trade deficit in July, compared to the trade surplus of US$1.74 billion in the previous month.
Imports of consumer goods rose even higher than overall imports to $1.72 billion in July, up 70.50 percent month-to-month (mtm).
The trade balance has been suffering this year, with a trade surplus recorded in only March and June. High global oil prices and the strengthening of the US dollar resulted in Bank Indonesia using the foreign exchange reserve to intervene in the market. (bbn)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/09/04/indonesia-to-impose-up-to-10-percent-import-tariffs-on-downstream-products.html