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View all search resultsRI to sign $34b pact with US partners ahead of tariff deadline, minister says
Jakarta is facing a 32 percent tariff in US markets and has previously offered to increase US imports to facilitate trade talks between the two sides.
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Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto speaks to The Jakarta Post about Indonesian economy in his Jakarta office on Sept. 30, 2024. (Office of Coordinating Economic Minister/-)
I
ndonesia will sign a pact worth US$34 billion with business partners next week to boost purchases from the United States, as part of efforts to strike a trade deal with Washington ahead of the July 9 deadline, Indonesia's senior minister said on Thursday.
Jakarta is facing a 32 percent tariff in US markets and has previously offered to increase US imports to facilitate trade talks between the two sides.
Indonesia enjoyed a goods trade surplus of $17.9 billion with the United States in 2024, according to the US Trade Representative, a 5.4 percent increase from the previous year.
Speaking to journalists, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) due to be signed on July 7 will deploy the $34 billion for new Indonesian investments and purchases in the United States.
"Indonesia will counterbalance with US energy, agriculture and merchandise imports," he said.
Airlangga said that by addressing the trade balance with the United States, Indonesia hoped to get a better trade deal than the one struck with Vietnam.
The United States announced on Wednesday that it will place a lower-than-promised 20 percent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, down from the original 46 percent announced by President Donald Trump in April.
The US-Vietnam deal came a week before the threatened US reimposition of steep tariffs on dozens of economies, including the European Union and Japan.
Many countries are still scrambling to reach deals with Washington that would protect them from the measures.
Those higher tariffs are part of a package Trump initially imposed citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trading relationships, before announcing a temporary lowering to 10 percent.
Since then, Washington has announced a pact with Britain and a deal to temporarily lower retaliatory duties with China.
On Monday, Minister Airlangga said that Jakarta has offered the United States an opportunity to jointly invest in its electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem and critical minerals sector, as part of ongoing tariff negotiations. The state asset fund Danantara will also be involved in the proposed mineral project.
“[The investment is] for brownfield critical mineral projects in Indonesia. We are clearly offering that to the US,” he said, noting that the projects involved the expansion of existing operations rather than starting from scratch.
However, he declined to identify the projects due to confidentiality agreements.
