Jakarta. A deputy minister denied Tuesday that Indonesia’s membership in the BRICS Group had triggered US President Donald Trump to continue with his 32 percent additional tariff on Indonesian imports.

Trump had penned a barrage of letters to 14 world leaders in a move to fix Washington’s trade deficit. In the letter addressed to President Prabowo Subianto, Trump threatened to slap 32 percent tariffs on Indonesian goods starting Aug. 1, unless Jakarta invests in the United States.

The rate is the same as the so-called “liberation day” rates that Trump had unveiled in early April. The letters -- which also went viral for their poor formatting -- came not long after Trump’s strong-worded comment on BRICS. Just a day earlier, BRICS leaders -- including Prabowo -- had gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the group's 17th summit.

They also came up with a joint declaration that indirectly criticized Trump’s tariff policy. It did not take long before Trump threatened an extra 10 percent tariff for any country that aligns itself with BRICS’ “anti-American policies.” Trump has been critical of the group, primarily over the planned use of domestic currencies other than the US dollar in intra-group transactions -- the so-called dedollarization.

BRICS is a group of major emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, and China, with Indonesia becoming its 10th member only this year.

The timing of the letters, which came when BRICS concluded the two-day summit on Monday, sparked speculations that Indonesia’s BRICS membership had fueled Trump’s tariff wrath. However, Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno dismissed those speculations.

“I don’t think that’s the case because non-BRICS nations also received Trump’s letters,” Havas told reporters at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta. 

Indonesia and South Africa are the only BRICS members among the fourteen countries that got Trump's threatening letters. Like Jakarta, Trump kept the import tax hikes for South Africa unchanged at 30 percent.

The rest of the latest tariff list is not part of the BRICS grouping, such as Myanmar (40 percent), Cambodia (36 percent), and Thailand (36 percent). Trump also sent a letter to Japan and Malaysia, saying the two countries could face a 25 percent import duty starting next month. Both recorded a percentage point increase compared to earlier threats.

“So, yes. I think it [our BRICS membership] has nothing to do with that,” Havas said.

BRICS brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and Indonesia.

Same Sentences, Different Numbers
Indonesia has been negotiating with Trump's team over the past few months and seeking to sign import deals from the United States worth $34 billion.

The proposed deals include commitments to purchase American fuels worth $15.5 billion to help Washington fix its trade imbalance as Trump frets over the deficit.

Havas told reporters that it’d be best to wait for the latest updates as Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto made renewed efforts to negotiate with Trump’s team in Washington, DC.

“Everything is still in process. These letters follow the same standards. … I mean they all have the same sentences, it’s just that the numbers [or the rates] are different,” the senior diplomat said.

When asked how optimistic he was about the results, Havas said that it would depend on the negotiations.