Jakarta. A senior Indonesian minister said Tuesday that the US tariff deal Jakarta would sign soon still needed to go through lawmakers, similar to other trade pacts.

Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto restated that both Indonesian and American sides were putting the final touches to the document. The Jakarta Globe asked Airlangga about what comes next after the signing, particularly on whether the terms can automatically kick in or still have to go through the ratification process. Airlangga signaled that it would be the latter. 

“The [US government] will issue an executive order to be reported to Congress. Indonesia, too, has to inform the House of Representatives,” Airlangga told a presser on the sidelines of the 2026 Indonesia Economic Summit.

For context, ratification is the process that will see the government seeking lawmakers’ consent to make the agreed-upon terms official. The House has some trade pacts pending for ratification, including with Peru. Airlangga did not go into more details, but claimed the so-called “legal drafting had reached 90% completion”. This is a separate process where both sides have lawyers making sure the text is legally sound. He did not disclose the final tariff rates and only repeated his statement that the signing would hinge on President Prabowo Subianto and his American counterpart Donald Trump’s availability.

“We are waiting for the leaders’ schedule,” Airlangga said, when asked if a Prabowo-Trump meeting could take place this month.

Malaysia's agreement with Washington showed that the terms would "enter into force" 60 days after both parties exchanged written notifications certifying completion of their "applicable legal procedures". The close neighbor signed the document in late October 2025.

Jakarta's tariff negotiations have been embroiled in rumors in recent months, including the presence of a poison pill clause aimed at excluding China from the region. Media reports claimed that the Trump government demanded Jakarta buy US-made drones for surveillance in the waters near the highly contested South China Sea. Jakarta’s membership in the Board of Peace for Gaza also sparked questions on whether this was part of the tariff negotiations. Airlangga has denied all claims.

Jakarta has been seeking to placate Trump’s wrath over trade imbalances. The talks, which already hit its 9-month mark, saw Indonesia making major concessions, including a $15 billion energy import pledge and removal of tariff barriers. Washington agreed to rescind the import tax on Indonesian goods from a punitive 32% to 19%. Airlangga claimed that the Trump government had agreed to free Indonesian palm oil from tariffs. The minister’s aide Susiwijono Moegiarso recently told the press that the pact would have a “nice surprise”, while signaling it would provide a boon for Indonesia’s key export sectors.

Trump’s capricious tariff policies did not stop the trade gap from widening. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that Indonesia’s surplus with the US rose from $14.52 billion in 2024 to $18.11 billion the following year.