The Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI) revealed that around 28,480 containers of illegal textiles and textile products (TPT) enter Indonesia every year. This has put pressure on the national textile industry in recent years. APSyFI General Chair Redma Wirawasta said the number of illegal textile imports continues to increase every year. This can be seen from the comparison of national Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data regarding textile imports with Chinese export data. Based on data from the General Custom Administration of China in 2022, China's TPT (HS 50-63) exports to Indonesia will reach US$ 6.5 billion. Meanwhile, BPS recorded that TPT imports from China were only US$ 3.55 billion.

"If it is assumed that imports per container are worth Rp. 1.5 billion, then it is estimated that around 28,480 illegal TPT containers will enter per year or around 2,370 illegal containers per month," said Redma in a written statement, Sunday (17/9/2023).

From the 2022 data, this means that there is a gap of US$ 2.94 billion or the equivalent of Rp. 44.1 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 15,000) which is not included in the official records from BPS. "Even though several years earlier it was still below US$ 2 billion," added Redma.

Redma estimates that the market share of illegally imported goods reaches 41%. This is compared to the value of public TPT consumption in 2022 which is estimated to reach US$ 16 billion.

"This means that 41% of the TPT consumed by the public is illegal. This is of course very detrimental because these illegally imported goods do not pay import duties and taxes so they can be sold very cheaply on the domestic market and local products cannot compete," he said.

This problem has long been the cause of the decline in the performance of the national textile industry. Redma explained that China's textile exports to Indonesia were worth US$ 6.5 billion, equivalent to 800 thousand tons or around 45% of the production capacity of small and medium-sized garment industries (IKM) that are oriented to the domestic market.

"800 thousand tons per year, if done by IKM, can absorb a workforce of around 2.4 million people, not to mention if it is extended to the manufacture of cloth, thread, fiber and other supporting industries," explained Redma.

Even though the economic multiplier effect of the textile industry is very large. For this reason, Redma asked the government to immediately act decisively both on the import side and on the distribution side on the market.

"This has been neglected for years until now the condition of the national textile industry is chronic. Several companies have closed, some have turned off many machines and many employees have been subjected to rationalization because utilization has fallen," he said.

Then, Redma also revealed that the same condition occurs in several sectors where there is an export-import gap between Indonesia and Singapore in 2022 reaching US$ 17 billion.

"So the biggest gap is with Singapore, but if you break it down, illegal imports from Singapore are dominated by electronic products. Meanwhile, illegal TPT is still dominated by China," explained Redma.