The Association of Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers (APSyFI) again asked the government to be serious about fighting illegal textile imports which are increasingly rampant and to be carried out openly. Chairman of APSyFI, Redma Gita Wirawasta stated, the flood of imported textile goods has increasingly depressed the performance of the textile and textile products (TPT) industry so that the average utilization from upstream to downstream is now only around 50%. Based on APSyFI's calculations, approximately 300,000-400,000 tonnes of illegal TPT imports valued at IDR 35 trillion per year, whether in the form of clothes, fabrics or yarn, enter the country illegally.

 "About 1,400 containers per month enter through the main ports in Java and some via Sumatra," he said, Monday (17/4).

He added that around 210,000 tonnes of illegal TPT imports came from China, the rest from Korea, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand. "It can be clearly seen from the data from the Trade Map that China's TPT export records to Indonesia are greater than our import records from China," Redma explained.

Redma explained that the discrepancy in the data was due to wholesale import practices, under invoices, HS escapes, and seepage of bonded warehouses. This practice is freely and openly carried out by under-name service companies that cooperate with customs officials in the field, so that they can easily enter through the green channel, without even needing import approval.

Furthermore, APSyFI highlighted the TPT Import Approval related to the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 25 of 2022 which is considered to still have many leaks.

Redma said that his party received reports that there were still many companies that committed violations and were given excessive import permits both by the Ministry of Industry for Import Identification Numbers for Companies (API-P) and by the Ministry of Trade (Ministry of Trade) for Import Identification Numbers for the General (API-U). .

“The import permits granted were not transparent. Violators are never prosecuted. In fact, the import permits continue to increase," said Redma.

On the other hand, the flood of illegal imports has reduced the utilization of the TPT industry to a point low enough to take its toll. Finally, at the beginning of April, PT Tuntex Garment went bankrupt and terminated its employment relationship (PHK) for around 1,163 of its employees.

West Java HIPMI Honorary Council Cecep Daryus said, the national textile industry is still in a critical period since the end of 2022, including in West Java. "At the end of last year, many people were laid off. If conditions like this continue, it will increase again, “he said.

Cecep asked the government, both regional and central government, not to let go of this incident. According to him, the condition of the export market is one of the reasons for the rampant layoffs in the TPT industry. However, Indonesia's domestic market is basically very large and must be maintained properly.

He reminded the role of the textile industry as a socio-economic safety net for Indonesia. "If the government leaves its hands on the issue of these imports, the Indonesian economy will gradually collapse," he said.