It has been more than a week since a heavyweight Indonesian delegation came back from their visit to Washington to negotiate deals to avert an exorbitant US import tariff set to be imposed on Indonesia.

The government did not have much to share, other than saying that the US was happy with Indonesia's proposals and that working groups have been established for five sectors to speed up talks.

Despite the polite language from Washington, no concrete breakthroughs have been disclosed because the rest of the details were sealed in a nondisclosure agreement, a very odd practice in diplomacy, where transparency is a norm.

We can expect more rounds of talks to take place in the upcoming weeks and let’s hope the remaining two months of US tariff postponement are enough to get it all done.

The success of the talks will define the future of some Indonesian labor-intensive industries, especially footwear, textiles and electronics, which have relied on US markets as major export destinations.

Even before the US tariff bombshell, Indonesia had seen multiple factory closures and massive layoffs, either because of weakening domestic demand or less competitive Indonesian goods on the global market.

The government has formed three new task forces on job losses, deregulation and US tariff negotiation to address these challenges. While these task forces are a good start, they require scrutiny.

We need to be wary that some of the deregulation that has been proposed by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto could have a detrimental impact on local industries, particularly on local content and import quotas.

While these regulations sometimes prove to be painful for some foreign companies, they are pivotal for investors to protect their factories and supply chains in Indonesia.

Trading our industrial future for short-term tariff relief is a trap that we must avoid. Any effort to reach an agreement with the White House must be strategic, not desperate. Indonesia should be willing to make concessions—but not at the expense of its own economic resilience.

Moreover, sealing a trade deal with the US should not be the only focal point as the government needs to aggressively pursue other opportunities such as the long-delayed Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) and similar trade pacts with Eurasian countries, which can help it hedge its bets beyond Washington while further opening more market access for local manufacturing industries.

Indonesia must not lose sight of the importance of strengthening ties with key existing trade partners—especially ASEAN, China and Japan. These markets already account for a far larger share of Indonesia’s exports than the US and deepening these relationships could offer more sustainable and long-term benefits.

Moreover, these countries are also part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which Indonesian businesses have yet to fully utilize despite its potential to help Indonesia boost exports and imports by billions of US dollars.

The talks in Washington were just the beginning. Now comes the harder part: Turning proposals into agreements, defending key sectors and ensuring that any deal serves the national interest—not just foreign demands.

The clock is ticking. The 60-day period is decisive and must not be wasted. Indonesia cannot afford to simply hope for the best. It is yet another litmus test for President Prabowo, who must act fast before the US trade policy deals a big blow to our economy.