The Electronic Entrepreneurs Association (Gabel) has revealed that the electronics industry ecosystem has been laying off workers since the beginning of this year as a result of efficiency driven by the shrinking domestic market and the high volume of imported electronics from China.

Gabel Secretary General Daniel Suhardiman saw some manufacturers and electronic retailers have reduced their workforce and hinted that several electronic manufacturers will also lay off their workers in the near future.

Gabel did not name the factories in question, but Daniel signaled that the workforce reductions were mainly driven by shrinking domestic demand due to weakening national purchasing power.

"Domestic demand for electronics has fallen by 30 percent annually in January-February 2025. In addition, the surge in demand that usually occurs during Ramadan did not occur this year," Daniel said as quoted by Katadata.co.id, on Monday, March 24, 2025.

Gabel assessed that the efficiency decision was taken by manufacturers because the industrial conditions were worsened by the flood of imported electronic products from China.

According to him, the current condition occurred due to the implementation of the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) No. 8/2024 on Import Policy and Regulation. The Permendag is the third revision of Permendag No. 36/2023 also on Import Policy and Regulation.

Daniel assessed that the high volume of imported electronics in the country was caused by the loss of technical considerations issued by the Ministry of Industry as import requirements from Permendag No. 36/2023 to Permendag No. 8/2024.

According to him, these technical considerations are non-tariff barriers (NTM) to protect the national manufacturing sector. The revision of Permendag No. 36/2023 to Permendag No. 8/2024 eliminates protection for the electronics industry.

The loss of technical considerations makes the electronic household appliance industry the most vulnerable to the onslaught of imported electronic goods from China, the products of manufacturers who are now threatened with efficiency.

"In general, the products most impacted by Permendag No. 8/2024 are products that do not yet have energy standards, do not yet have mandatory Indonesian National Standards, and have a low number of NTMs," Daniel said.

Therefore, he supports the government's move to revise Permendag No. 8/2024. He assessed that the revision schedule for the policy was not comparable to revising Permendag No. 36/2023 to Permendag No. 8/2024.