Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Febri Hendri Antoni Arif alluded to one of the Minister of Finance's regulations (PMK) being the cause of the sluggish Indonesian textile industry. Febri said the industrial confidence index (IKI) fell for 3 consecutive months, where in September 2023 it was at 52.51. This achievement slowed down 0.71 points compared to the previous month which touched 53.22. Several subsectors that are still contracting this month include textiles; apparel; wood, wooden articles, and cork; other processing industries; and the non-metallic minerals industry.

Based on the Ministry of Industry's observations, textile products for the export market are not absorbed by foreign markets.

"There are industries in bonded areas that import textile products and then produce them for export. Because the export market is weak, many of these textile products are not absorbed," explained Febri at the September 2023 IKI Press Conference at the Ministry of Industry, South Jakarta, Friday (29/9 ).

"Then there was a regulation by the Minister of Finance (PMK) which stated that export products not absorbed by foreign markets could be sold in the domestic market. We saw that as a problem. So many industrial products from export-oriented bonded areas ended up entering the domestic market," he continued.

Febri did not specify the rules in question. However, provisions regarding bonded areas are regulated in PMK Number 131 /PMK.04/2018.

Apart from these regulations, the Ministry of Industry said that the sluggish textile market in the country was caused by a flood of imported products. Therefore, Febri supports the Ministry of Trade's move to ban TikTok Shop Cs.