Jakarta. A brief but impactful phone call between President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump has brought good news for Indonesian exporters. The two leaders spoke for nearly 17 minutes on Tuesday, resulting in the United States cutting its import tariffs on Indonesian products from 32 percent down to 19 percent.

According to an official statement from Indonesia’s Cabinet Secretariat, the conversation took place while Prabowo was still in Paris. It marked their second phone call in just a month.

“It was a serious conversation, but at the same time warm and friendly,” the statement noted, adding that trade tariffs were a key focus of their chat.

The phone call wasn’t just about lower tariffs. Indonesia also agreed to open its doors to US products without import duties, as part of a broader trade deal. On top of that, Indonesia committed to buying $15 billion worth of US energy products and $4.5 billion in agricultural goods.

And there’s more: Indonesia’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia, will be purchasing 50 Boeing jets, although the value of that deal hasn’t been disclosed yet.

The agreement wraps up weeks of intense back-and-forth between senior officials from both countries. Indonesia’s team was led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, following the White House’s announcement back in April about raising tariffs on nearly every country in the world -- a move Trump called “liberation day.”

With this latest deal, the United States now imposes one of the lowest trade tariffs on Indonesian products in Asia. It’s also another win for Indonesia, coming on the heels of its recent free trade agreement with the European Union, which guarantees zero-percent tariffs on around 80 percent of Indonesian exports.

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