Jakarta. Indonesia plans to pursue “intensive” talks with the US after the Donald Trump 2.0 administration launched sweeping unfair trade investigations into dozens of nations, including Jakarta.

Washington’s probe aims to determine whether Indonesia’s production surpluses have displaced existing American production, which they claimed to have caused Jakarta’s mammoth-sized positive trade balance. These investigations followed legal setbacks to Trump’s tariff policies. The inquiries could also open the door for new tariffs against Indonesia if found to have engaged in unfair trade practices.

Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs’ spokesman Haryo Limanseto said Thursday that the recent announcement was only an “initial notification” that the legal administration processes had begun. 

“The Indonesian government will confirm [with the US government] as soon as possible. We will engage in intensive communication with US Trade Representative [Jamieson Greer] regarding the follow-up measures,” Haryo told the Jakarta Globe via text.

Amid the current developments, Indonesian goods entering the American market are currently subject to the 10% global tariffs, which had kicked in on February 24. These levies would only be valid for 150 days, according to Haryo, unless extended by the Congress.

Even so, the tariff deal that Jakarta and Washington had struck on Feb. 19 will remain as the “main reference in bilateral trade ties”. While the legal processes to turn the deal into law are still underway, Haryo said the deal’s core intent was to implement a “more mutually beneficial reciprocal tariff implementation”.

The Feb. 19 deal had committed the US to limiting its levies from the originally threatened 32% to 19%, while exempting certain commodities, including palm oil. It would lock Jakarta into heaps of major concessions, including granting duty-free entry for US goods. But within less than 24 hours after the signing, the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the right to impose the reciprocal tariffs that had jolted global markets and prompted economies — including Indonesia — to rush into negotiating a deal with the Trump administration. The ruling was also what had led to the 10% global tariffs.

Greer framed the latest investigation as Trump’s commitment to reshore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers. He alleged that overproduction by foreign trading partners had displaced existing US domestic production. 

“[It] prevents investment and expansion in US manufacturing production that otherwise would have been brought online,” Greer said.

The US will open a docket for comments on the probe on March 17. Interested persons should submit written comments, requests for a hearing appearance, and a summary of the testimony by April 15. A hearing is slated for May 5. 

According to a federal register notice, the US government named Indonesia’s persistent goods trade surpluses as proof of the “structural excess capacity and production”. Indonesia’s global goods trade surplus totaled $31 billion in 2024, with exports of metals, textiles, and agricultural products being some of the top impetuses. Its positive trade balance with the US hit $56.15 billion by Nov. 2025. The US also pointed out the “permanent oversupply” within Indonesia’s cement industry, which Washington attributed to a seismic imbalance between production and capacity.

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