JAKARTA, April 8 — Indonesia announced a raft of concessions on United States (US) imports today, including reducing taxes on electronic goods and steel, ahead of trade negotiations with Washington over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy will send a high-level delegation to the United States next week in hopes of securing a deal to ease the impact of a 32 per cent tariff due to take effect on Wednesday.
Indonesia plans to buy US liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, and soybeans as part of the negotiation efforts, said chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto, who will lead the delegation travelling to Washington on April 17.
He was speaking at a conference that was attended by President Prabowo Subianto, senior officials, and business leaders, discussing how to respond to US tariffs.
Prabowo told the conference that some import quotas were no longer necessary. Indonesia imposes quotas on imported rice, corn, sugar and beef, among other goods.
There was also room for flexibility on what he called Indonesia's uncompetitive local content rules, suggesting they should be replaced with incentives.
The rules came into the spotlight last year when Indonesia banned the iPhone 16. It was cleared for sale last month after Apple pledged more than US$300 million (RM1.34 billion) in investments.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Indonesia would also lower import duties on US steel, mining products, and health equipment to zero per cent to five per cent, from five per cent to 10 per cent currently.
Taxes on electronics, mobile phones and laptops from any country will be lowered to 0.5 per cent from 2.5 per cent.
The government is also discussing buying US components for an oil refinery project.
She added that there was room for Indonesia to replace Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, and China as a source of some exports to the US under Washington's new tariff regime.
Meanwhile, President Prabowo's economic advisor Luhut Pandjaitan said Indonesia planned to discuss a partnership on critical minerals with Washington.
Indonesia posted a US$16.8 billion (RM75.4 billion) trade surplus with the US — its third-biggest export destination — last year, according to Indonesian government data, with electronics, apparel and clothing, and footwear its leading export products.
— Reuters
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Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati delivers her speech during the Mandiri Investment Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 11, 2025. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
