ESDM Seeks Exemption for Domestically Produced Solar Panels from US Tariffs

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is campaigning to ensure that domestically produced solar panels are not subjected to United States import tariffs exceeding several hundred per cent.

“We are fighting to ensure compliance with tariffs governed by the ART (Agreement on Reciprocal Trade). If the rate is indeed 15 per cent, then the maximum should be 15 per cent. Not more than 15 per cent,” said Deputy Minister of ESDM Yuliot when met at the ESDM Ministry office in Jakarta on Friday.

Yuliot stated that he had reviewed solar panels facing tariffs reaching several hundred per cent.

It transpired, he continued, that solar panels subject to high US tariffs are not actually produced in Indonesia but merely undergo labelling procedures in Indonesia, or transhipment.

Transhipment is the activity of transferring or shipping goods from one country to Indonesia for subsequent dispatch to another country after obtaining specific documentation from Indonesia. For example, country A engages in this practice to circumvent reciprocal tariffs in order to import goods to the United States.

“It is merely transhipment, simply labelling in Indonesia,” said Yuliot.

In response to this situation, Yuliot instructed the Director General of New and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Eniya Listiani Dewi, to re-map which solar panels are genuinely produced domestically and which are transhipped goods.

By categorising solar panels based on their production source, Yuliot hopes to protect domestically manufactured solar panels from US tariffs.