Latest news with #Indonesian-made
The Star
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
Indorama to invest US$2bil in US as tariff talks go on
JAKARTA: A company rooted in Indonesia is slated to invest US$2 billion in a blue ammonia project in the United States as part of what President Prabowo Subianto called a 'win-win solution' in the ongoing tariff negotiations. Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto (pic), who led a top-tier Indonesian delegation to Washington, DC, for bilateral talks last week, revealed in a press conference on Monday (April 28) that Indorama, a diversified manufacturing company, would make the investment in the US state of Louisiana. He added that the US project had reached the front end engineering design stage, which is a planning phase one step on from the feasibility study. Airlangga noted that Indorama was already operating on US soil in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common thermoplastic polymer, which is used for packaging as well as for food and beverages containers, among many other products. 'Indorama is a multiproduct company. It started in Purwakarta and has expanded to various countries, including the US. In the US they have a PET facility, [where they make] bottles for soft drinks,' said Airlangga after making his first report to the President following his visit to the US. His team, which also included Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Foreign Minister Sugiono, kicked off talks expected to take up to 60 days and aimed at averting steep import tariffs that the US has threatened to impose on Indonesian-made products. According to its website, Indorama Corporation was established in Purwakarta, West Java, in 1975 as a cotton yarn spinning business. The company has since expanded to the production of polyester fibre, PET and ammonia, among other goods, with operations in numerous countries, including Turkey, Thailand, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, India, Malaysia, Senegal, Nigeria, Brazil and Georgia. Airlangga did not explain what might happen to Indorama's investment should the bilateral negotiations fail to satisfy the two parties. Airlangga presented Indorama's investment as part of Indonesia's package of concessions to the US, alongside exclusive tariff cuts for the benefit of US companies, deregulation and an offer to import more American-made products to balance out bilateral trade in a bid to placate the White House to avert exorbitant tariffs that the US has characterised as a 'reciprocal' measure. Indorama has not immediately responded to The Jakarta Post's request for comment. Airlangga said Indonesia had made a 'fair and square' offer to bump up imports of US products by 'more than US$19.5 billion', which would go beyond the US$18 billion by which Indonesian exports to the US exceeded imports from the US last year. Prabowo said earlier this month that the archipelago could import more wheat, soybeans and cotton, alongside liquefied petroleum gas, oil and oil drilling machines from the US. The bilateral negotiations with the US are to continue over the next two months with the aim of concluding them well before the 90 days US President Donald Trump has granted trading partners to come to terms with Washington. Airlangga revealed that critical minerals were discussed in the talks but refrained from divulging more details. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and holds the biggest estimated reserves of nickel, a key material for most of the batteries used in electric vehicles built by US-based carmaker Tesla Inc. Over the past weeks, the minister has refused to specify what the archipelago is asking of the US in the negotiations, but he disclosed in the press conference that the delegation was lobbying for equality. 'For Indonesia's main export commodities to America, Indonesia requests that our tariffs be equal with [those imposed on goods from] other countries, be they Vietnam or Bangladesh, so that we get an equal, level playing field,' said Airlangga. The reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US, but suspended for 90 days to allow for negotiations, vary from one country to another. Bangladesh and Vietnam are subject to rates of 37 and 46 per cent, respectively, both higher than the 32 per cent to be imposed on Indonesia. Much like Jakarta, Dhaka and Hanoi are engaging with Washington to try and avert the tariffs, which would make their goods much less competitive in the US, the world's largest consumer market. Airlangga said the government has formed three new task forces to 'expedite the negotiations' on investment and trade and to deal with economic security, domestic employment and deregulation. Speaking to the Post on Monday, Centre of Economic and Law Studies executive director Bhima Yudistira deemed Indorama's investment as a significant move and added that each investment made by Indonesian companies in the US could serve as a bargaining chip for Jakarta in the negotiations. BCA chief economist David Sumual concurred, telling the Post on Monday that Indonesia's offshore investments had mainly concentrated on emerging markets of the Global South, like China, as well as African and Middle Eastern countries. He went on to say that the key to negotiating with Washington was less about trade balancing deals and more about aligning with US strategic interests, like industrial reshoring, which could be done through investment on US soil. 'That [investment] is what Trump really wants, which is why he uses tariffs as a negotiation tool rather than quotas,' David said, explaining that Trump's real goal was to kick-start US reindustrialisation, which was a key interest for his electoral base in labor-intensive industries that had seen mass layoffs. He added that US allies, such as Japan and Taiwan, appeared to have recognised that offering investment was the key to pleasing Trump and that Indonesia's request for equal tariffs was the 'correct' tactic in the dealmaking process, the idea being that, if other countries succeed in reducing or eliminating US tariffs imposed on them, Indonesia should be afforded the same treatment. Bank Permata chief economist Josua Pardede said Indorama's US investment plan could be considered part of a package offer, 'for example, buying ammonia from a project in the US to support the growth of a sustainable fertiliser industry in [Indonesia].' The move showed a willingness on the part of Indonesia to invest in strategic sectors that could improve industrial relations between the two countries, he said. 'Thus, Indorama's investment signifies mutually beneficial economic diplomacy,' Josua told the Post on Monday. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fender outlines the future of Squier after the launch of its new Standard Series – which is built in the same factory
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. One of Fender's biggest launches in recent memory has been the Standard Series – an all-new range of Indonesian-made, Fender-branded electric guitars and bass guitars that sit between the Squier Classic Vibe and Fender Player II families. It further closed the gap between the Fender and Squier brands, and made genuine Big F instruments more accessible than ever, ushering in price tags that start from $599. At the time of the announcement, there was much discussion over the Standard's merit over the top-of-the-line Squier Classic Vibes – which are made in the same Indonesian factory – with some online commenters dismissing them as 're-badged Squiers'. With Fender looking to bring its own instruments to more players than ever before, and trying to develop unprecedented price points in its own range, it begs the question over what the future holds for Squier. Indeed, could we ever see a time when Fender takes over the responsibility from Squier, and puts its own name on the entire production line from affordable beginner guitars to Custom Shop instruments? 'I think everything is a discussion,' Justin Norvell, Fender's EVP of Product, tells MusicRadar when asked that very question. 'We're open enough as a company and we listen enough to think about it. 'But there's so much equity in the Squier brand name. There are people that love Squier. There are people that proudly play Squier over Fender. Squier, on its own, is one of the biggest electric guitar brands, so it would be crazy to get rid of that.' It makes sense: the retiring of the Squier name would be a mistake. Even if Fender does seek new ways to push down its price points, there's no way they could match Squier. In its own catalog, for example, Squier has its $199 Sonic range. Plus, as Norvell states, some players are proud and loyal Squier advocates, and prefer playing those instruments over what are perceived to be 'better' Fenders. Not only that, according to Norvell there's an inherent difference between Squier Classic Vibe and Fender Standard Series, regardless of the fact they are all made in the same workshop. 'Because Squier starts to bend more vintage at the top of its line, we wanted to go with something that's a little more modern, more overwound – distortion-friendly, more aggressive,' Norvell reflects of the Standards. 'This [Standard Series] guitar was designed with the price thing removed, basically, so it was just like, 'What is the best guitar that we can make with this partner, in this facility, that would be worthy of the Fender name?' 'The guardrails that almost keep something Squier were off, but we were still conscious of what was above it and what was below it and what would make sense.' Norvell spoke about the Standard Series during a conversation with Guitar World earlier this year, and explained why Fender opted to produce the guitars in Indonesia alongside Squier. 'I think we have been maybe overly dogmatic or just controlled by the idea that Fender is for Mexico and U.S models,' he noted. 'The way things are these days, it's not about what factory it's made in. 'It's really like, 'Squier goes to 500 bucks in the US, and Fender should start there and go up.' And so we kind of just got out of our own way, I guess.'
