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View all search results‘This is the right time’: Trade minister defends Indonesia-US tariff deal
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Trade Minister Budi Santoso gestures while speaking during a special interview with The Jakarta Post on April 22, 2026, at the Trade Ministry office in Jakarta. (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
T
rade Minister Budi Santoso has defended the government’s decision to pursue a trade agreement with the United States, known as the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), which has been criticized for placing Indonesia in an unequal position with the world’s largest economy.
“This is the right time,” Budi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, saying that Indonesia had sought a broader trade framework with the US for decades.
He also called the agreement is “an opportunity” amid the global shift toward protectionism in which countries increasingly rely on tariffs and other unilateral measures to support domestic industries.
Indonesia and the US signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 1996, but negotiations failed to produce a comprehensive deal in nearly 30 years, while in contrast, the ART was concluded far more quickly.
“In principle, this trade agreement is like any other trade relationship, it is about increasing exports for both sides in a mutually beneficial way,” he said.
The US has emerged as Indonesia’s largest source of trade surplus, with Indonesian exports reaching US$30.9 billion and generating a $18.11 billion surplus, surpassing India.
The market currently accounts for 11 percent of Indonesia’s exports, which the minister opined that it would be hard to shift it elsewhere. It makes continued access critical, particularly for labor-intensive manufacturing sectors, including textiles, footwear and electronics.
