11 February 1999: Indonesia is reportedly studying the possibility of restricting the imports of sheet glass to protect its domestic industry.
Director general for non-metal industries Ida Bagus Agra…
11 February 1999: Indonesia is reportedly studying the possibility of restricting the imports of sheet glass to protect its domestic industry. Director general for non-metal industries Ida Bagus Agra Kusuma said that sheet glass producers have suffered in market competition as a result of low import duty on the commodity. “The government is considering banning general importers from importing the commodity. Imports could be made only by producers,” he said. He said the Association of Sheet Glass Producers has complained that the import duty on sheet glass was too low, allowing imported products to glut the domestic market. Currently the import duty on sheet glass in Indonesia is 5%, much lower than those in other ASEAN member countries. The import duty in Malaysia, for example, is 159.72%, while in Thailand and Vietnam it is 30%. Kusuma said the government could not accept the request by the producers as the 5% import duty was in line with rule of the World Trade Organization. He said the restriction to be imposed by the government would be temporary in nature and would not be longer than a year. Sheet glass industry fares much better than other industries with capacity utilization of 75%-80%, Kusuma added.