Jakarta. The US remains Indonesia’s biggest trade surplus driver as of April, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) as Jakarta’s deadline for its tariff talks is approaching.

Jakarta to this day is still trying to get US President Donald Trump to roll back his upcoming 32 percent import tax tariffs on Indonesian goods, which the Southeast Asian country feared could affect its trade performance. Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who leads the tariff negotiations, had set a target to reach a deal with the US within 60 days. In other words, they wish to conclude the talks of the possibility of bringing down the tariffs this month. Trump had accused the Southeast Asian country of unfair trading practices that caused Washington to suffer a trade deficit so big that it prompted the country to impose tariff hikes on Indonesian goods. Indonesia offered to increase its US imports to sweeten the deal, but data showed that the gap in trade remained large. 

Pudji Ismartini, a deputy at BPS, revealed Monday that the US continued to clinch the top spot for Indonesia’s overall trade surplus contributors, ahead of India and the Philippines. A surplus or a positive trade balance means that a country’s exports exceed its imports, while a deficit is the other way around. 

“The US is the biggest contributor to Indonesia’s overall trade, which includes oil and gas as well as other sectors, in January-April 2025. The surplus that we had with the US reached $5.44 billion,” Pudji told a press briefing.

The latest data also marked an increase compared to the $4.37 billion surplus that Indonesia posted when trading with the US over the same four-month period last year. China, which has gained recognition as the US’ top rival, was the biggest culprit of Indonesia’s deficit. Indonesia suffered a $6.28 billion trade imbalance with China in the first four months of 2025.  

Electrical machinery, footwear, and apparel have mainly driven the surplus in Indonesia-US non-oil and gas trade this year. The Indonesian footwear industry added about $838.4 million surplus in January-April 2025, while electrical machinery gave nearly $1.3 billion to the positive trade balance. Indonesia saw a $801.4 million surplus in apparel trade with the world’s economic superpower.

“In April 2025 alone, Indonesia’s US-bound exports reached $2.08 billion. Imports from the US totaled $960 million.” Pudji said, thus indicating another positive trade balance.

 A 10 percent universal tariff already came into force on all foreign goods entering the American market on April 5. This means that the data above already took into account the post-tariff trade. Trump has delayed the steeper 32 percent duties until July 9.

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