Han Revanda Putra, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ceramic Industry Association (Asaki) has written to the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, on Friday, September 6, 2024. They urged the State Treasurer to issue a Ministerial Regulation concerning the anti-dumping import duties (BMAD) on imported ceramic tile from China.
"We ask for attention and sincerity and urge the Minister of Finance to act swiftly," said the Chairperson of Asaki, Edy Suyanto, in a written statement, quoted Monday, September 9, 2024.
Edy said it has been over 30 days since the Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, submitted a decree regarding anti-dumping import duties on ceramic tiles to Sri Mulyani. However, the Minister of Finance has not issued any regulation concerning the enforcement of anti-dumping import duties.
Edy considered the anti-dumping import duties necessary because the ceramic industry has recorded a downward trend. According to Edy, this decline is caused by the onslaught of imported ceramic tile products from China which have been proven to have carried out unfair trade in the form of dumping.
"The national industry is currently in a slump and it is visible from the contracting PMI figures for July and August," said Edy.
According to Edy, the lack of regulation on anti-dumping import duties has allowed importers to continue importing in massive volumes. According to him, this import volume was above the average import figure before the news about the anti-dumping import figure was spread. At that time, Zulkifli Hasan revealed that the import duties for ceramic tiles are 40 to 50 percent on average.
According to Edy, the drove of ceramic tiles imports that followed occurred as importers attempted to avoid the imposition of anti-dumping duties when the ministerial regulation had been issued. As a result, he considered the anti-dumping duty to be less effective in the next few months.
Minister Zulkifli sent a letter regarding the decision to impose anti-dumping duties on ceramic tiles from China to Sri Mulyani on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. The Head of the Trade Policy Agency at that time, Kasan Muhri, claimed that he could not reveal the amount of anti-dumping import duties decided by the Minister of Trade as it violated the rules.