Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto will fly to Washington in January to finally ink the long-awaited reciprocal trade deal with his American counterpart Donald Trump, according to Indonesia’s chief negotiator.

Senior minister Airlangga Hartarto has just wrapped up his meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the latter’s office. Speaking at a virtual press conference on Tuesday morning Jakarta time, Airlangga said that the discussions, which primarily revolved around technical issues, had “gone well”. Their technical teams will meet again in mid-January to finalize the treaty text. Prabowo and Trump will sign the document by the end of the month. 

“The US side is currently arranging a date to have the leaders meet for the signing. … This way, our countries can open up market access that will drive Indonesia's economic growth,” Airlangga told reporters.

The economic tsar signaled that Indonesia did not make further compromises beyond what was agreed on back in July.

Both governments at the time unveiled a framework agreement that saw Jakarta eliminating the import duties on 99% of US industrial and agrifood products, on top of scrapping non-tariff barriers and restrictions on its critical minerals. Trump also slashed the tariffs on Indonesian goods from 32% to 19% in return for the concessions. 

Trump had already penned an executive order that exempted imported cocoa and coffee from the reciprocal tariffs back in November. Airlangga claimed that Washington had agreed to drop the tariffs on Indonesian palm oil based on the recent talks with Greer, a progress which should enable Jakarta to maintain its market dominance. Trump remains keen on Indonesian critical minerals, according to Airlangga.

He went on to say that the negotiations did not touch on political matters amid fears that Jakarta could end up trapped in a similar deal to that of its close neighbor Malaysia.

“The pact does not restrict Indonesian policies. It is a mutually beneficial commercial and strategic deal. … We didn’t discuss other things besides trade. This is purely an agreement on reciprocal trade,” Airlangga said.

He revealed that both sides had already reached a consensus on the content of the agreement.

"There should be nothing that can hinder the signing. ... If you ask me about what the dynamics were like over the past few days [of negotiations], it mainly revolved around the wording. This is nothing unusual in such negotiations." 

Trump’s tariff wrath started with his concerns over the bilateral trade imbalance. The US reported that it had run a nearly $18 billion goods trade deficit with Indonesia in 2024.

Fellow ASEAN member and major palm oil supplier Malaysia already secured its US trade deal in late October, but the document has sparked concerns over Kuala Lumpur losing its economic sovereignty. The agreement obliges Malaysia to mirror US trade sanctions and not make a trade deal with a country that "jeopardizes essential US interests" — a move seen as Trump’s attempt to weaken Chinese influence in the region. The Indonesian government has denied reports that this poison pill clause has stalled the negotiations.

Add as a preferred source on Google +