The Impact of US Import Tariffs on Indonesia's Electric Motor Industry

KatadataOTO – President Donald Trump is once again in the public spotlight. This is after he issued new import regulations.

The new policy immediately drew many responses. One of them came from Aismoli (Indonesian Electric Motorcycle Association).

According to them, the United States' import tariff regulations will more or less affect the electric two-wheeled vehicle industry in Indonesia.

“Although Indonesia is not yet an exporter of electric motorcycles or their components to the United States, the impact can be felt indirectly domestically,” said Budi Setiyadi, Chairman of Aismoli, through an official statement on Saturday (05/04).

Photo : Special

Budi further explained that on a macro level, Donald Trump's new policy risks causing inflation. Then there is the potential for a decrease in public purchasing power for EVs (Electric Vehicles).

Then other countries experiencing similar conditions, like China, will look for alternative markets besides the United States.

“Indonesia, with its large population and strong purchasing power, is considered an attractive country,” Budi continued.

Nevertheless, Budi hopes that President Prabowo Subianto and his staff will take various initiatives that can create a stronger EV market.

“This is to protect local producers from the potential onslaught of imported goods entering Indonesia,” he said.

Then, one area that needs to be guarded by the government is the TKDN (Local Content Requirement) policy for various products.

This is important to protect local products or Indonesian-made electric motorcycles. And to prevent the dominance of imported products.

“Not only from the policy side, government supervision in ensuring that TKDN rules are properly implemented by the industry also needs to be strengthened,” Budi asserted.

For your information, Donald Trump is implementing reciprocal tariffs for their trading partner countries, including Indonesia.

The amount for each country is also different. For example, Indonesia is charged 32 percent and China 34 percent.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is subject to a tariff of up to 46 percent. The regulation will later come into effect on April 9, 2025.

Photo : KatadataOTO

“In my opinion, this is one of the most important days in American history,” Trump said, as previously reported by Katadata.

Donald Trump himself announced the reciprocal or mutual import tariffs a few days ago on Wednesday (03/04).

Various parties believe the decision made by the President of the United States will have a number of impacts on various sectors.