The US is Indonesia’s second largest export market after China. Experts have warned US trade policy could weigh on the archipelago’s gross domestic product growth and to some extent lead to layoffs in impacted industries.

Consumer confidence continued its downward trend in March, falling for the third consecutive month and hitting its lowest since October 2024.

The government seeks to ask unemployed graduates to return to villages, who would later be provided with training.

Before the world felt the blow from US tariffs, there were an estimated 80,000 layoffs in Indonesia last year, according to official data from the Manpower Ministry. The ministry also estimated another 18,610 workers were laid off during the first two months of this year

China's exports rose sharply in March after factories rushed out shipments before the latest US tariffs took effect, but an escalating Sino-US trade war has darkened the outlook for factories and growth in the world's second-biggest economy.

Diversifying exports to countries beyond the US is unfeasible in the short term because of either limited market demand or intense competition from local players in target countries.

Indonesian palm oil companies are seeking new markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East as they try to protect themselves from the impact of Donald Trump's trade war, a top industry executive told AFP.

The two sides "exchanged views on Taiwan-US reciprocal tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, and a number of other economic and trade issues including export controls".

Indonesia is considering to boost imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, but experts urge caution to avoid harming local industries and stress prioritizing long-term national interests over trade pressure.

A former World Trade Organization boss has said the future terms of global trade, rocked by US President Donald Trump's sweeping protectionist tariffs, could be decided outside the 30-year-old international watchdog unless it reforms itself fast.

Southeast Asian countries are looking to boost trade with their neighbors as a way to stave off the impending impacts of US tariffs following the 90-day reprieve, given that intra-ASEAN trade in 2023 totaled US$759 billion, around a third higher than the region’s total trade with the US last year.

The government and economists agree that an increasingly protectionist US trade policy is weighing on Indonesia’s economic growth, but the full extent of the damage will depend on the final tariffs Washington imposes on goods from the archipelago and its trade partners.

The economic ministers of the ten member states explained that retaliation would not be beneficial as the US was Southeast Asia’s biggest source of foreign direct investment and second-largest trading partner in 2024. The US was also the bloc’s fifth largest trading partner in the same year.

Before a 90-day pause was announced by US President Donald Trump on the implementation of US tariffs, six of nine Southeast Asian countries targeted by the US administration were slapped with much bigger-than-expected tariffs of between 32 percent and 49 percent. 

"There are many French companies investing in Indonesia in the energy sector, tech or transportation. There are many sectors in which France excels," he said.

In a stunning reversal, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries while further ramping up pressure on China, sending US stocks rocketing higher.

Asian Agri, one of Indonesia’s largest palm oil producers, has recorded relatively positive developments at the midway point of its AsianAgri2030 sustainability commitment.

The finance minister, a seasoned economist, has criticized Trump's tariff policy as devoid of any basis in economic science, while highlighting the resulting turmoil in global trade as presenting a fresh opportunity for Indonesia.

Rise in demand from the free meals implementation is expected to wipe out the 200,000-tonne egg surplus that Indonesia currently produces.

The government explained that “front-loading” debt issuance was a way to anticipate uncertainty brought about by global dynamics, including a highly protectionist trade policy adopted in the United States.

Beijing's rebuke came after Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs on US imports from the world's No. 2 economy to more than 100 percent on Wednesday in response to China's decision to match the "reciprocal" duties Trump announced last week.

While acknowledging that there may be limited room "to revisit the underlying intent" of the tariffs, Anwar said there was still scope to adjust the policy's implementation.

The country’s headline inflation hovered at 1.03 percent year-on-year in March, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) production undersecretary M. Habibullah said in a press conference on Tuesday.

China vowed on Tuesday to "fight to the end" against US tariffs as some citizens railed against President Donald Trump after he singled out Beijing for further levies, setting the stage for a standoff between the world's two largest economies.

While the government has tried to curb growing worries over the depreciating rupiah, Apindo and economists have pointed to pass-on costs and "double inflationary pressures" as potential scenarios that should be anticipated.

The central bank  said in a statement it would optimise interventions in the spot, domestic non-deliverable forward and bond markets to ensure adequate foreign exchange liquidity.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce Industry (Kadin) chairman Anindya Bakrie plans to hold talks with the United States Chamber of Commerce in May over the US administration’s move to impose a 32 percent tariff on goods imported from Indonesia.  

The IMO expects to come to an initial agreement by Friday next week on which mechanism to adopt to help reach carbon neutrality in shipping by 2050.

Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34 percent tariff, on top of the 20 percent he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 percent.

The tariffs -- which are paid in the first instance by US importers -- will likely push up the price of many household items in the United States and reduce consumers' spending power.