Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso emphasized that the phenomenon of frontloading or accelerating exports before tariffs are normal and carried out by many countries, not just Indonesia.
"If you are informed that in the next six months your tariff will be high. As much as possible the export now. I think that is a natural phenomenon and that is the export behavior of not all countries. Not only Indonesia," he told the media crew, Friday, August 8.
For information, starting August 7, 2025, the United States has imposed a reciprocal tariff on products from Indonesia of 19 percent.
However, Susiwijono emphasized that Indonesia still has a relatively lower tariff than other countries.
However, he continued, because the difference in rates between countries is not too big, national competitiveness must be maintained very strictly.
"In fact, we have to really maintain our competitiveness. We have to protect it. Exports are not only a matter of tariffs, the logistics costs, the industrial affairs are approximately efficient or not, the investment climate affairs. So that's what we take care of." he said.
The government does not only focus on tariff aspects, but also makes various regulatory efforts, one of which is through the issuance of Government Regulation (PP) Number 28 of 2025 and the implementation of Service Level Agreement (SLA) to accelerate and simplify the licensing process.
"That's all a breakthrough. So the government doesn't just talk about tariff issues. As soon as the rates are like that, other countries will also be affected. We in other cost structure components we make to make it more efficient. That's why there are several programs, there are several task forces being regulated and so on," he explained.
Susiwijono also emphasized that the deregulation step is not limited to Permendag Number 8, but includes various other regulations related to business licensing, investment, and other related sectors.
Regarding the policy of the Domestic Component Level (TKDN), he said that the government is currently conducting a review, especially of technology products from the United States.
"We review everything. US products are only certain. It's really just a few items and that's imagine if for example heavy goods go to high technology, IT's like that. For example, like imported goods (in the cellphone component), there are components that cannot be fully made domestically. That has been calculated and will not be affected," he said.
He added that for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector from the US, the government has agreed on a commitment to free certain products from TKDN obligations.
"In yesterday's commitment, that's our commitment, (is it official?). If that's the binding executive order. So, once again it's limited and we control it right. It doesn't mean that the entry is also very free," he said.
Source: VOI
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
