00:00The site of these sewing machines is no longer as busy as usual.
00:05Currently only 5 workers operate it, but normally this small-sized garment industry has 50 workers.
00:12Sari is one of the lucky few who can still work here.
00:16For the mother of two, this means a lot.
00:22Of course I'm worried about being laid off. I have two children.
00:26I usually earn up to Rp 900,000 per week.
00:29Now it's at most Rp 200,000. Now it's very quiet when working.
00:39Indonesia's textile and garment industries are in deep trouble.
00:43Thousands of textile workers were laid off from January to June.
00:48One of the main causes is the influx of cheap Chinese textile products.
00:54Over 8,000 small and medium textile industry businesses registered in our network.
01:00Probably hundreds of thousands of workers are out of work, and that's only in West Java.
01:05This is worrying. There are too many cheap imported clothes that are killing the industry.
01:10Most of them are from China.
01:12We're not anti-import, but the question is, will the new import tariffs regulation be implemented, and how effective will it be?
01:21The Indonesian government is considering imposing tariffs of up to 200% on certain Chinese-made products
01:29to protect the domestic industry from dumping, triggered by Western countries' trade war with Beijing.
01:35Since 2019, 36 textile factories in Southeast Asia's largest economy have shut down operations.
01:42Others suffered massive layoffs, including this textile printing factory in West Java.
01:48It's one of the worst affected areas.
01:53The problem is, thousands of containers of ready-to-wear clothing are ready to enter the country.
01:59If those containers get here without safeguard regulation, it will be very dangerous.
02:05Increasing import tariffs is a must to protect industry and the domestic market.
02:10The textile industry will not survive in 2024 if there's no concrete intervention from the government.
02:19In doing so, the Indonesian government implemented an emergency exit plan,
02:23which led to a backlog of over 26,000 containers piling up to the sky at major ports in Jakarta and Surabaya.
02:31The government is also working to crack down on illegal imports, which has worsened the situation.
02:37However, many in the industry are concerned about the potential consequences of the new tariff plan.
02:44It's a very reactive unilateral move. It could trigger a backlash if China does retaliate.
02:52Moreover, imposing higher tariffs on only one country can be seen as a discrimination of trade.
02:59Don't forget that some of our clothing industry still needs Chinese raw textile materials.
03:07Many textile workers fear a trade war is coming.
03:10Ecin, one of 300 employees who lost her job at a textile factory in Bandung, West Java,
03:16has never seen such dire circumstances in her 18 years in the industry.
03:20She fears things will get worse before they get better.
03:27I've worked for 18 years, but when the company went bankrupt, I was not given my rights.
03:32Six months' salary and severance pay have not been paid.
03:36I used to get around 200 euros per month, but now even 50 euros is very difficult.
03:42I'm now living in a room with two people in this boarding house because I can't afford to pay.
03:49For now, Ecin is preparing food for a street stall to make ants' meat.
03:54The 40-year-old believes Indonesia's textile industry needs reform, even if such change comes too late for her.
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