Local electric part producers accuse China of dumping
Local electric part producers accuse China of dumping
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Electric Equipment
Manufacturers accused China yesterday of dumping its electric
parts in Indonesia.
The association's chairman, Januar Muin, said dumping was an
intentional Chinese strategy to win the market.
The practice has caused great losses to local producers
because most of their products can no longer compete with those
from China, which are generally sold here at very low price
levels.
"Most local producers have also lost out in the tender for the
supply of electric equipment to state-owned PT Telkom and PLN due
to the lower prices offered by the Chinese bidders," he said.
He said that electricity and telephone cables originating from
China, for example, are sold here 25 percent cheaper than those
manufactured locally.
"The prices of the Chinese products are set below their
production costs and that's why it is impossible for us to
compete against them," Januar said.
He said, however, that the association could not formally
submit its dumping charge to the Chinese authorities due to the
absence of an anti-dumping law in Indonesia.
Januar said that the organization also would not bring the
dumping case to the international arbitrage agency but instead
report the matter to Indonesia's Directorate General for Excise
and Duty.
Reporting the dumping charge to the local excise and duty
office will not be effective to deal with the dumped products, he
acknowledged.
"There is no response so far, but we are determined to report
the case to the government in order to protect the local electric
equipment industry," he said.
Challenge
Januar said that the dumping practice is one of the challenges
that local electrical equipment producers have to face in the
coming years, in addition to the requirement to meet the quality
management standardizations such as the widely used ISO-9000.
He said that beginning next year, all producers of electric
equipment should have the ISO-9000 certification to be able take
part in tenders for the supply of electric equipment to both
Telkom, the state-owned telecommunication firm, and PLN, the
state-owned electricity company.
Januar said that the association's members mostly produce
cables with a capacity of below 500 KV and, besides selling the
products to PLN and Telkom, also market them to the United
States, Europe, Japan and several Asian countries.
The value of Indonesia's electric equipment exports rose by 42
percent to US$596 million last year from around $418.3 million in
1993.(hen)