Counterfeit goods persist in Indonesia despite government curbs, renewed US complaints
- Shidonna Raven
- 52 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Ni Made Tasyarani
April 28, 2025
Source: Asian News Network (The Jakarta Post)
Photo / Image Source: Unsplash,
Mangga Dua market has been thrust into spotlight yet again as a barrier to trade in the USTR's 2025 National Trade Estimate Report, which has singled out the North Jakarta market as a bustling hub of counterfeit goods.
JAKARTA – Rampant intellectual property (IP) infringements continue to persist, particularly in the trade of counterfeit products, despite repeated attempts to curb the practice through government measures as well as pressure from foreign countries, especially the United States.
That is the reality on the ground, at least according to some merchants at Mangga Dua Morning Market in Ancol, North Jakarta, which has long attracted shoppers and bargain hunters in search of affordable luxury apparel and accessories such as handbags, wallets, toys and leather goods, never mind that many are knockoffs.
At one stall with two employees, the shelves were stacked with knockoff luxury goods, from counterfeit Coach bags to Louis Vuitton wallets.
Counterfeit goods of high-end brands cost more than Rp 1 million (US$59.26) on average, with the cheapest item priced at Rp 350,000, the employees said on Tuesday as they engaged in haggling with shoppers looking for better deals.
Aristo, who has been selling wares at the market for over a decade, offers knockoffs of mid-range labels in his compact retail space, which is filled with a variety of counterfeit bags and backpacks for around Rp 150,000 a pop.
He told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the market’s merchants were divided into tiers: so-called premium sellers offered genuine luxury brands with price tags reaching several million rupiah, while low- to mid-level sellers offered knockoffs for an upper price range of Rp 500,000.
Government raids were a regular occurrence at the market, Aristo said, especially those targeting “premium sellers”.
“But as you can see, they are still here,” he said, pointing to a row of busy stalls nearby.
According to Aristo, many Mangga Dua merchants source their goods from other wholesale markets in Jakarta.
“We sell whatever is right in front of us,” he said, suggesting that some merchants might not be aware that they were trading in counterfeit imports.
Mangga Dua market has once again been brought into spotlight as a copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting hub, this time in the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), along with a general mention of “multiple online Indonesian marketplaces”.
The report was published on March 31, just a few days before President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping tariff policy for hundreds of nations on April 2, though he backtracked exactly a week later with a 90-day pause, reportedly to open space for negotiations with affected countries.
In the linked 2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (Notorious Markets List), the USTR states: “There has been little or no enforcement actions against counterfeit sellers.” It also referenced stakeholders’ reports that “warning letters issued to sellers have been largely ineffective” and their “concerns about the lack of criminal prosecutions”.
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