Jakarta – The Indonesia Iron and Steel Industry Association (IISIA) is calling on the government to immediately implement its plan to increase steel import duties for exporters under the Most Favored Nations (MFN) clause, which is aimed at protecting the domestic steel industry from steel imports flooding into the country.

IISIA executive director Hidayat Triseputro said a policy to increase steel import duties was needed to increase both the use and absorption of domestically manufactured steel.

"We hope the government can immediately implement the policy to save the domestic steel industry," he said as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Sunday.

The government is planning to increase steel import duties to 15 percent from between zero and five percent for MFN tariffs. Steel industry players are hoping that the government can immediately issue a ministerial regulation on the policy.

Hidayat said it was expected that the implementation of import duties would run smoothly from upstream to downstream levels. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/17/govt-urged-implement-steel-import-duty-hike.html