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REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The governments of Indonesia and the United States are still engaged in talks following the recent announcement of a 32-percent tariff on Indonesian products, Deputy Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri stated. She noted that a team from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs is still in the US to lobby President Donald Trump for a reduction in the tariff, which he recently announced through an official letter.
"Note that the negotiation process is still underway. We are still working on this matter," Putri remarked after opening the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) on Trade and Investment Promotion for African Countries 2025 event in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She also revealed that Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto is scheduled to travel to the US after accompanying President Prabowo Subianto to the 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The deputy minister underlined that President Prabowo has instructed his aides to keep working to expand Indonesia's global market reach through international trade agreements.
In this regard, she highlighted that Indonesia has signed trade deals with Canada and Tunisia, as well as a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Peru. "These are our efforts to expand access for our products abroad," she remarked.
Putri reiterated that the 32-percent tariff is not yet final, as negotiations between Jakarta and Washington, D.C. are still in progress. "I repeat, talks are still ongoing," she emphasized.
Despite rounds of intensive bilateral discussions, US President Trump has moved forward with his plan to impose a 32-percent tariff on Indonesian products entering the United States, a policy first announced on April 2. "Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Indonesia a tariff of only 32 percent on any and all Indonesian products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs," Trump stated in a letter addressed to President Prabowo and signed on July 7.
In the letter, which he posted on Truth Social, Trump claimed the tariff is necessary to address the US trade deficit with Indonesia, which he attributes to tariff and non-tariff barriers. "Please understand that the 32 percent number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the trade deficit disparity we have with your country," he wrote.
Trump also cautioned Indonesia against raising tariffs on US products as a retaliatory measure, stating, "Whatever the number you choose to raise them by will be added onto the 32 percent that we charge."
However, he offered an exemption from the tariff if Indonesia chooses to manufacture products within the US and pledged full government support for such efforts. "These tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country," he told President Prabowo.
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