Indonesia and the United States have agreed on a new tariff deal after concluding negotiations on its finer details, with the agreement expected to be signed by the two countries’ presidents next month.The deal follows Washington’s decision in July to lower tariffs on Indonesian goods from 32% to 19%. While the reduced rate was announced earlier, talks over the scope and structure of the agreement continued.Indonesia’s coordinating minister for economic affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said the outstanding issues were resolved during his meeting with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington.“All of the substantive issues that have been regulated in the ART (Agreement on Reciprocal Tariff) document have been agreed by both parties, both the main and technical issues,” Airlangga said during a briefing from the US capital on Monday.According to Airlangga, negotiations focused on ensuring a “balance” in market access between the two economies. As part of the outcome, the United States has agreed to exempt several key Indonesian exports, including palm oil, coffee and tea, from the revised tariff framework.He further added that Washington was keen to expand its access to Indonesia’s critical minerals, noting that “the US is very much hopes to gain access to (Indonesia’s) critical minerals”.The framework agreement announced in July includes Indonesia’s commitment to significantly increase imports from the United States, with plans to spend billions of dollars across sectors such as energy, agriculture and aircraft purchases.Officials from both sides are scheduled to meet again next month to finalise legal aspects of the agreement. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump are expected to sign the deal before February.Trade data from the US Trade Representative’s office shows that Washington recorded a goods trade deficit of $17.9 billion with Indonesia in 2024, marking a 5.4% rise compared with the previous year.
Trade deal: US-Indonesia agree to ‘balanced’ market access; to be signed next month
