Jakarta. Indonesia is hoping that the US will keep its promise of providing the agreed tariff-free treatment for certain imports like palm oil, as new levies hit Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs, ranging from 10% to 12.5% on dozens of trading partners, are now in effect. They immediately replaced the temporary 10% blanket levy that had expired.

The US links the latest tariffs to months-long probes over countries’ efforts to curb goods associated with forced labor. Washington decided to hit Indonesia with the lower 10% levy. More trade measures following a probe on “structural excess capacity” now loom large, although it is still pending a US investigation. 

Haryo Limanseto, the spokesperson for the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, told the Jakarta Globe that Indonesia had been in close contact with the US throughout the investigations.

"The US has stated its plans to announce the results of the excess capacity probe soon. Hopefully, the tariff rate will be favorable for us. We hope that we still get the tariff exemptions for products as per our trade agreement,” Haryo said via text.

According to Haryo, Jakarta will continue to engage with the US Trade Representative’s office to “find the best and a competitive tariff rate”. 

Haryo was referring to the tariff agreement that both countries had struck in February.

The deal had granted 0% duty for Indonesian crude palm oil, cacao, coffee, natural rubber, among others. But in less than 24 hours after its signing, the US Supreme Court killed Trump’s first tariffs that had culminated in the agreement.

According to a notice of action over the forced-labor tariff, Washington unveiled a special mechanism for an unspecified volume of Indonesian textiles to enter the US at a reduced rate for three years, as long as they contain US cotton and other inputs. Washington had included a similar tariff-rate quota system in the February agreement.

The document also revealed Indonesian palm oil would get exempted.

The US is also cutting Indonesia some slack with the lower 10% tariff, citing that Jakarta already has laws that explicitly ban imports associated with forced labor despite the lack of enforcement actions.

Indonesia reported that its trade with the US had gone up by around 7.6% year-on-year to $18.4 billion in the first five months of 2026. Indonesia’s surplus was around $7 billion over the said period. The Trump government has argued that the tariff salvo was necessary to narrow the mammoth-sized trade imbalances.

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