Indonesia's trade minister, Zulkifli Hassan, recently said his country would impose safeguard duties of 100 to 200 percent on imports ranging from shoes to ceramics, reviving plans to protect domestic industries. But this has been interpreted as Indonesia's plan to impose a 200% import tariff on Chinese imports.

    Luhut responded that the news had caused a lot of misunderstanding and speculation. "Indonesia will not simply follow some countries, although we have to safeguard our national interests. Therefore, the issue of imposing 200% tariffs on China needs to be clarified so as not to cause controversy and misunderstanding among our partners." 'he said.

    According to Luhut, a coordination meeting chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on June 25, 2024, decided to protect domestic industries in accordance with existing regulations and applicable international trade norms. One of those measures was the imposition of safeguard tariffs on several textiles, but "that tariff has actually been implemented." Luhut said the measure applies to all imported goods and does not differentiate between specific countries of origin.

    In addition to this, Joko also called for stronger supervision of imported goods, especially used clothes or smuggled goods entering Indonesia, to avoid disrupting the domestic market.

    Luhut stressed that all these measures will not target any specific country, let alone China. He said he was working with the trade minister to balance national interests with international partnerships.

    Luhut said that China is a very important trade and investment strategic partner of Indonesia. Indonesia wants to ensure good relations with its partner countries, giving priority to the principles of mutual trust, mutual respect and complementarity. This is especially true in uncertain global conditions.