U.S. Concerned About Local Content Rules for Indonesian Smartphones

By Kristen McCannon

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) voiced concerns earlier this month about an Indonesian law requiring the use of local content in the production of smartphones. Only about one third of Indonesians own a smartphone, making Indonesia a potentially lucrative untapped market for Western technology companies such as Apple. However, USTR argued that Indonesia lacks a sufficient supply chain to produce high-quality devices with local content as required under the current law, hindering the ability of those companies to sell their products.