Jakarta. US President Donald Trump’s 19 percent tariffs on Indonesian goods officially kicked in on Thursday, just after the clock struck midnight in Washington.

The Indonesian government has yet to issue a statement following the hikes. While Indonesia has accepted the 19 percent rate as “final and binding”, Jakarta has been trying to convince the Trump government to lower the import tax on certain imports that the US can’t produce on its own. This includes nickel, palm oil, cacao and coffee.

Just a day before the new tariffs entered into force, Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani revealed that the US had agreed to grant 0 percent tariffs on Indonesian copper. He, however, did not say whether the zero tariff on copper would take effect on August 7 or another date.

“Seems like they [the US] will reduce the tariffs on nickel as well. Maybe not 0 percent, but far below 19 percent,” Rosan told a business forum in Jakarta on Wednesday evening. 

Chief negotiator Airlangga Hartarto also did not comment much on the tariff cut negotiations for palm oil earlier that day, only saying that it was still “in process”. 

Trump believes that imposing sweeping tariffs across the world can fix the US’ hefty trade deficit. His team reported that the US’ trade imbalance with Indonesia totaled $17.9 billion in 2024, up by 5.7 percent year-on-year (yoy). 

Trump started out by slapping a baseline 10 percent tariff on Washington’s trading partners in April, while at the same time threatening steeper tariffs on countries that he accused of unfair trade, Jakarta included. Indonesia was supposed to face a tariff increase to 32 percent, but Trump decided to delay the hikes at the very last minute by 90 days to buy time for negotiations.

He even penned a letter to President Prabowo Subianto in July, notifying the latter that Washington would proceed with the plan if Jakarta fails to clinch a trade deal by August. Trump finally agreed to lower the rate to 19 percent on Indonesia after Prabowo made some major trade concessions, including a commitment to import $15 billion worth of American energy products. Indonesia also agreed to get rid of 99 percent of tariff barriers for American industrial and food products.

In an executive order signed by Trump on July 31, the former real estate tycoon announced that the new country-specific tariffs would be effective seven days later or August 7.

Tariffs on other countries also came into force on the same day. These include Cambodia at 19 percent, the European Union at 15 percent, Japan at 15 percent, South Korea at 15 percent, Thailand at 19 percent, and Vietnam at 20 percent.

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