Not long after President Jokowi's order to crack down on the practice of buying and selling used clothes which was becoming increasingly widespread in Indonesia, the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan and the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki moved quickly. Assisted by law enforcement officials, the three of them immediately carried out market operations by raiding and taking action against imports of used clothes at several points. "The import of used clothes is actually prohibited illegally and the industry has shouted, it already controls 31% of the ready-to-wear market in Indonesia," said Acting Director General of PKTN of the Ministry of Trade, Monday (24/4/2023).

Moga said that the presence of imported used clothing had worried hundreds of thousands of Textile MSME players. Moga further explained that the practice of importing used clothes has actually been regulated by law. This means that those who are still acting as used clothing importers can be prosecuted as lawbreakers.

"Yes, of course what kind of regulatory mandate. We carry it out," he said.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of used clothing traders at Pasar Senen, Rivai Silalahi, denied that imports of used clothing had an impact on domestic textile MSMEs. As a trader, he sees the import of ready-to-wear clothes as the main cause of the destruction of the textile industry in Indonesia.

"If you say actual imports, what percentage is the influence of the import of used clothes compared to what he said affects local products? No. It's only zero point a certain percentage. What has the biggest influence is actually imported apparel products from China. China, Bangladesh , India, that's the biggest," said Rivai.

According to his experience, the income he earns from selling local clothes is not comparable to selling imported used clothes. This is because, according to him, domestic textile clothing is still less competitive than foreign apparel.

"So if you say it kills MSMEs, it doesn't. What kills MSMEs is 80% of the newly imported clothes. That kills, not this," he added, pointing to his merchandise.