Jakarta. The US government was willing to keep the newly signed reciprocal trade deal strictly limited to trade issues only by scrapping clauses related to defense and security, Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Thursday.

His remarks came only hours after he signed the reciprocal trade deal with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington. President Prabowo Subianto and his American counterpart Donald Trump had struck a separate implementation agreement meant to usher in what they called a “new golden age” for the bilateral alliance.

Speaking to the press later that day, Airlangga said that the Trump government had agreed to accept 90% of Indonesian demands, without disclosing which of the requests got turned down.

“Unlike other reciprocal trade agreements, the US has agreed to remove clauses unrelated to economic cooperation, including on nuclear reactor development, South China Sea policies, defense, and border security,” Airlangga told a virtual press briefing. “Our agreement with the US is strictly trade-related.” 

Over the past few months, the Indonesia-US trade talks have been subject to a plethora of rumors. The Singapore-based Straits Times reported that Jakarta had resisted the Trump government’s demands to buy US drones for surveillance in the waters near the South China Sea. Airlangga had previously denied that such provisions ever existed. 

In Malaysia’s trade deal, Kuala Lumpur had agreed to “not purchase any nuclear reactors, fuel rods or enriched uranium from certain countries, except where there are no alternative suppliers on comparable terms and conditions”. There was no mention of nuclear reactors in Jakarta’s document. On defense, the reciprocal tariff agreement with Indonesia only briefly touched on arms trade amid Prabowo’s plans to upgrade his country’s military equipment.

“The US shall work with Indonesia to streamline and enhance defense trade,” the document reads.

Under the deal, the US keeps its promise of maintaining 19% tariffs on most Indonesian goods, down from the originally threatened 32%. Washington also agreed to give tariff exemptions on 1,819 Indonesian tariff posts, including palm oil, electronic components, and spices. Textile faces a tariff rate quota system, in which a predetermined quantity of eligible exports can enter the US market at 0% tariff. Indonesia has eliminated tariffs on 99% US products, ranging from agricultural goods to automotives. 

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