- 2025-07-25
Indonesia and the United States have reached a trade agreement.
JAKARTA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- (Reporter Li Zhiquan) After U.S. President Trump announced on July 15 that the United States would impose a 19% tariff on Indonesian goods, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto responded on social media on July 16, saying that he had spoken with Trump and both sides agreed to push the bilateral trade to a new stage of "mutually beneficial and win-win".
On the surface, the U.S. has reduced the originally planned 32% tariff to 19%, while Indonesia has made concessions and agreed to grant "zero tariffs and zero non-tariff barriers" to American goods entering the Indonesian market.
The executive director of the local think tank "Economic and Legal Research Center" in Indonesia, Bima Yudistira, believes that in the short term, traditional advantageous export categories of Indonesia such as shoes, clothing, rubber and palm oil will maintain a certain scale; in the medium and long term, more attention should be paid to the potential squeeze effect on local industries from the large influx of American products.
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association, Anggawira, told the media that although the 19% tariff is not the highest among Asian exporting countries, considering the importance of the U.S. market to Indonesia's exports, this agreement may have an impact on the country's industries.
"This agreement was finally reached after a round of difficult negotiations," Prabowo Subianto said in this regard.
The chairman of the Indonesian Fisheries Processing and Marketing Enterprise Association, Budiyovowo, pointed out: "The problem is not that the tariff has dropped from 32% to 19%, but that it has jumped from 0% to 19%. Even 10% is already very difficult for us."
Henry F. Anarondo Russell, director of the ASEAN-China Research Center at the University of Indonesia, said that the Trump administration's actions should serve as a warning. In the context of the United States frequently bypassing international rules under the pretext of "national interests", the coordinating and restraining functions of the WTO are facing challenges. He suggested that Indonesia should actively explore emerging markets such as Africa and the Middle East, and strengthen regional economic cooperation within ASEAN and with partners such as China.