Govt to increase import duty on steel products to 15%

The Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Finance have reached an agreement to bolster the import duty on steel products to 15 percent from the current 0-5 percent in a bid to protect domestic industry against cheaper imports, reports said on Wednesday.

It remains unclear, however, as to when the new import duty will be applied.

Director General of Manufacturing Base Industry at the Ministry of Industry Harjanto was quoted as saying that steel products from countries which have signed free trade agreement with Indonesia will not be subject to the new higher import tariff. These countries include China, South Korea, and Japan.

He said that countries to be affected by the new most favored nation (MFN) import tariff are India, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Imports from MFN countries account for about half of Indonesia?s total steel import. (*)