Import restriction postponement unpostponed

Trade Minister Pangestu finally cracked under protectinists' pressure. She changed the schedule from Feb 15 to Jan 1 (The Jakarta Post, 16/12/2008). (Guess what? No one says she is being inconsistent now. Businessmen, I thought you hated change of schedules? What say you now?).

And Industry Minister Idris was quick to seize the moment. He wanted extension to more commodities: cosmetics, ceramics, steel, energy-saving lamps, cell phones, auto parks (spark plugs and filters) and bicycles.

Why not protecting everything then? For that matter, why not a complete isolation?