Jakarta. Malaysia’s recent deal with the United States has made close neighbor Indonesia more motivated than ever in securing a similar agreement that could let its palm oil enter the American market tariff-free.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US President Donald Trump have just signed a trade deal that saw the latter maintaining a 19 percent tariff rate on Kuala Lumpur. The pact stipulated zero tariffs on Malaysian palm oil, cocoa, and rubber -- all happen to also be Indonesia’s key exports to the US. Indonesia’s chief negotiator Airlangga Hartarto revealed Wednesday evening that the trade talks with the Trump government would resume next month following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea. Getting tariff exemptions for the aforementioned commodities will be high up in the agenda.

“We have actually managed to finish almost every part of the agreement. However, we still have to do the legal drafting,” Airlangga told reporters in Jakarta.

“[We will aim for] 0 percent, quite similar to Malaysia, on palm oil, cacao, and rubber,” he said.

The senior minister went on to say that Indonesia was seeking greater market access for certain commodities that could be part of the American supply chain for medical devices. 

The latest timeline signaled a slight delay as Airlangga not long ago admitted that he was hoping to wrap up the negotiations by the end of October. In the past, Airlangga had admitted the US government shutdown -- which had now hit its 28th-day mark -- had put the brakes on the talks.

The tariff salvo started out with Trump’s concerns over the goods trade imbalance with Indonesia, which the US government reported to reach $17.9 billion in 2024. On July 2025, both countries announced a preliminary agreement that saw the US dropping its tariffs from the once-threatened 32 percent to 19 percent, which was effective from Aug. 7. The agreement followed Trump’s 17-minute phone call with President Prabowo Subianto. In exchange for quite significant tariff reductions, Indonesia now has to give the zero-tariff treatment on US imports, on top of multi-billion-dollar commercial deals. 

Indonesia is the world’s largest supplier of palm oil, even holding a market share of nearly 90 percent in the US. Local news agency Bisnis Indonesia recently reported that the palm oil producers association Gapki remained confident that it would not lose its market to Malaysia despite the huge tariff differences. The reason? The Indonesian palm oil industry is not facing persistent black campaigns in the US, unlike what is going on in Europe, according to Gapki’s chair Eddy Martono.