The Indonesian Department of Trade and the Indonesian Textile Association (API) will this week discuss measures to safeguard the country against increasing Chinese textile imports, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu has asked API to submit quantitative data on the legal import volume of Chinese textiles to determine the losses suffered by the domestic textile industry. Mari said any potential safeguards could only be used on legal imports.
Small producers in cities such as Jakarta and Klaten have been forced to close during the past five years because of a sharp jump in Chinese textile imports.
However, API said last month that the textiles sector had reported a 13% increase in exports of textiles and textiles products in the first ten months of 2005.
It was reported last week that five firms with licenses for big-brand shoe trademarks such as adidas and Puma have moved orders from Vietnam and China to Indonesia after the EU placed anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese and Chinese exports.
