Indonesia eases import restrictions on ten categories of goods

The Minister of Economic Co-ordination has said that the government has amended the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 8 of 2024 to introduce the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 16 of 2025.The regulations were formulated after proposals from government departments, relevant associations and stakeholders, a regulatory impact analysis and a technical working meeting. It also announced 10 categories of goods that will benefit from the import liberalization policy: forest products, subsidized fertilizers, plastic raw materials, other fuels, and food trays will not be subject to import restrictions, while saccharin, stevia and alcoholic spice preparations, certain chemicals, pearls, insoles, and two- and three-wheeled bicycles will be subject to formalities to be handled only by the inspection agency. The objectives of the policy are to implement former President Joko's directive to help businesses cope with uncertainties in the global economy and trade development; to facilitate businesses to enhance their competitiveness; to create a favorable ecosystem for sustained job creation; and to promote the development of labor-intensive industries to attract investment and maintain existing investment to safeguard the country's economic growth. The government is simultaneously promoting deregulation measures, such as simplification of investment permits, to optimize the business environment in general. Some viewpoints emphasize that the import relaxation needs to prioritize the scale of raw materials, and there are also voices cautioning that it should be implemented cautiously, while the plastics industry associations are concerned that the policy may expose the industry to shocks. The Ministry of Trade mentioned the liberalization of imports of 441 forest products to meet industrial demand, while the Minister of Economic Co-ordination said that the import liberalization policy would not have an impact on the country's fiscal revenue, among other things.