RI lamp makers ask Egypt to waive tariff hike plan
RI lamp makers ask Egypt to waive tariff hike plan
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Electric Lamp
Producers (Aperlindo) has appealed to the Egyptian government to
refrain from imposing a 110 percent import surcharge on lamps.
Aperlindo chairman John Manoppo said on Friday that the call
to impose the hefty surcharge was groundless.
He said Indonesia's lamp exports to Egypt decreased to about
US$1 million this year, from $2 million in 1997.
The Egyptian-based El Nasr Electric and Electronic Apparatus
Company (NEESAE) had filed a complaint with the Egyptian
International Trade Policies Department in response to decreasing
lamp sales which it blamed on imports.
"The Egyptian manufacturer cannot blame Indonesian products
for ruining its market share," Manoppo said.
He said NEESAE had not provided data on how much the company
had lost in terms of its market share, sales and employment
because of imports.
Manoppo said if the surcharge plan was imposed, Indonesia
would not be able to compete in the Egyptian market.
Other major lamp exporters facing the surcharge are China,
Thailand, Poland and Hungary.
The Egyptian government has notified the World Trade
Organization (WTO) of its plan to impose the surcharge, which
would gradually decline to 50 percent after four years.
Sinar Angkasa, one of two Indonesian companies which exports
lamps to Egypt, held a hearing last Saturday with Egyptian
authorities to discuss the plan.
Manoppo said Aperlindo would seek assistance from the
Indonesian Embassy in Cairo. "We plan to approach this on a
government-to-government basis."
In a letter to the Egyptian authorities, a copy of which was
made available to The Jakarta Post, Sinar Angkasa's export
manager Soendow R. Tjandra said the surcharge would punish
Egyptian consumers with higher prices.
Manoppo said as Egypt's sole lamp producer, NEESAE was only
able to produce seven million lamps per year, while domestic
demand had reached 19 million.
He argued that NEESAE's market share had declined because of
production inefficiency, and not because the country had been
swamped by imports. (03)