Jofie Yordan · · 1 min readIndonesia to ban imported goods below $100 on ecommerce platforms
The Indonesian Ministry of Trade plans to limit the sales of imported goods on ecommerce platforms as it is revising its regulations on online trade.
Isy Karim, the director general of domestic trade, said that the new rules will serve to protect Indonesia’s MSMEs.
“There are several [policies] being revised, one of which involves setting a minimum limit of US$100 per unit of goods traded on marketplaces by foreign merchants,” said Karim, as reported by Katadata.
He added that the Ministry of Law and Human Rights will harmonize the new policies in August, after which both ministries will schedule the implementation.
In addition, the Ministry of Trade will define social commerce as a form of online trade. Unlike ecommerce platforms, social commerce is yet to be regulated in the country.
Social commerce and cross-border commerce have been recent hot topics in Indonesia after TikTok developed Project S in the UK. With this latest initiative, TikTok would directly sell its own products within its app, similar to Amazon Basics.
Many parties, including some Indonesian government officials, see Project S as a threat to Indonesia’s MSMEs. However, TikTok has clarified that both Project S and cross-border ecommerce are not available in Indonesia.
See also: TikTok’s Project S triggers alarm bells in Indonesia
Editing by Patrick Arya and Dhania Putri Sarahtika
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