Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto said Tuesday how the US’ latest tariff blitz had shown the importance for a country to stand on its own two feet and not rely on other nations.

US President Donald Trump recently decided to impose reciprocal tariffs against countries whom he accused of being unfair trading partners and causing Washington's deficits. Indonesia is no exception to these tariffs. Aside from a 10 percent universal tariff that is already in force, Indonesia will face a 32 percent duty on its goods entering the US market starting on April 9.

Speaking in front of Indonesian senior economists and businessmen, Prabowo made a highly anticipated comment on Trump’s tariff salvo. The retired army general, however, shied away from directly referring to Trump or the US by name.

“There are global disruptions after the world’s biggest economy significantly raises tariffs against many countries. This has resulted in global uncertainties, and many [countries] are worried,” Prabowo told the high-profile conference in Jakarta, alluding to Trump’s latest trade move.

“For years, our founding fathers and I have said that we must stand on our own two feet in our economic development,” Prabowo added.

Prabowo’s comment on US reciprocal tariffs was brief as the Indonesian leader went on to talk about other topics, including fertilizer distribution. Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto took the stage later in the forum, reiterating Indonesia’s plans to negotiate the tariffs with the US government by offering to buy more American goods, among others. 

All ten ASEAN member economies are subject to Trump’s punitive tariffs although the rates differ by country. Cambodia will be the hardest-hit with a tariff as high as 49 percent. Airlangga claimed that the impact of Trump’s tariffs on Indonesia would not be as bad as fellow ASEAN member Vietnam, given Hanoi’s reliance on the American market. US-bound Vietnamese goods will be subject to 46 percent reciprocal tariff. Airlangga revealed that 33 percent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) came from US exports, making the country extremely vulnerable to Trump’s trade policies.

“Indonesia’s US exports account for just 2.2 percent of our GDP. … So we can withstand the [tariff] impact. The US is not our only market … Our top export destinations are China around $60 billion, the US [$26 billion], and India [$20 billion]. Surely we can tap into other markets outside the US,” Airlangga said.

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