Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) is investigating a suspected scheme in which Chinese companies reroute goods through Indonesia to bypass steep U.S. import tariffs.
According to Director General of Customs and Excise Askolani, Chinese firms may be shipping products to Indonesia and then re-exporting them to the United States under the guise of being Indonesian-made.
The scheme, is likely a response to the escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, which have led the United States to impose tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese imports.
Askolani noted that similar trade diversion tactics have already been observed in Europe, where Chinese exporters rerouted goods through third countries to circumvent direct access restrictions to the United States.
“If Chinese goods can’t enter the U.S. directly, they’re being rerouted through other regions, and as you may have read in the past day or two, those goods are now entering Europe,” he said during a hearing with Commission XI at the Indonesian Parliament in Jakarta on Wednesday (May 7), as reported by CNN Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) said it is currently preparing preventive measures. “The government is now working on threat remedies and anticipatory steps,” Askolani added.
Read Also:
China Urges U.S. to Cancel 145% Reciprocal Tariffs amid Escalating Trade War
While Askolani did not confirm whether such cases have already been detected in Indonesia, he stressed that the government is ready to act.
Indonesia currently has instruments such as anti-dumping duties and safeguard tariffs that could be deployed to deter such practices.
“The government is preparing to respond to any attempts to reroute goods previously destined for the U.S. market into Indonesia,” Askolani added.
Similar schemes have already been exposed in South Korea. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, Chinese goods falsely labeled as South Korean exports were valued at 29.5 billion won (approximately $25 million) in recent months with 97% of which were shipped to the United States.
That figure already represents 85% of such cases recorded throughout all of 2024, which totaled 34.8 billion won (around $30 million).
(Raidi/Agung)
