Coordinating Minister Claims Indonesia is the First Country Invited for U.S. Tariff Talks
Reporter
April 15, 2025 | 12:58 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia is one of the first countries to have the opportunity to negotiate reciprocal tariffs or Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs in Washington DC, United States.
"Indonesia is one of the first countries to be invited to Washington. So, this is certainly based on what has been conveyed by the Indonesian Government," Airlangga said in a Limited Coordination Meeting in Preparation for a Meeting with the U.S. Government on Trade Tariffs at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs office in Jakarta, Monday, April 14, 2025, as quoted from Antara.
Delegations from Indonesia will visit the U.S. on 16-23 April 2025 to meet with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). In addition, representatives from the homeland will also meet with several U.S. ministries, including the Treasury, State, and Commerce Departments.
Airlangga explained that the Indonesian Government had previously sent official letters to the USTR, Treasury, and U.S. Commerce Department. As known, Trump has now postponed the implementation of reciprocal tariffs for 90 days until Monday, June 9, 2025.
The Indonesian Government has prepared a number of non-paper proposals related to tariffs, trade and investment cooperation, Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs), and financial sector relationships.
On that occasion, Airlangga also stated Indonesia's plan to relax the trade balance with the U.S. by purchasing a number of commodities from the U.S. worth US$18-19 billion.
Not only that, Indonesian representatives will also discuss U.S. investment plans in Indonesia and vice versa.
In the meeting, he also mentioned that the Government will discuss President Prabowo Subianto's directive to form a task force for layoffs and job expansion, which is being finalized, as well as a deregulation task force.
"So, all of this is running in parallel and is expected to issue (several policies, including layoff and deregulation task forces) in a short time. We are looking for low-hanging fruit in the form of packages," Airlangga said.
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