Indonesia to send finance, economy ministers to US trade talks
It has ruled out retaliating against US plans to impose a 32% tariff on Indonesian goods
[JAKARTA] Indonesia will send a team of officials including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to Washington for trade talks next week, part of the South-east Asian nation’s initial response to being among the hardest hit economies globally by higher US tariffs.
Indrawati will join a delegation led by Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto to convey Indonesia’s stance to US officials, according to a presidential palace statement late on Monday (Apr 7). The team will also include Foreign Minister Sugiono.
South-east Asia’s largest economy has ruled out retaliating against US plans to impose a 32 per cent tariff on Indonesian goods, instead seeking to negotiate better terms. That includes pledges to ease non-tariff barriers such as local content requirements – the policy that led to an iPhone 16 sales ban last year.
Indonesia is also preparing to boost imports of US goods such as wheat, cotton and oil and gas, Hartarto said separately on Monday.
Hartarto, who has held a series of coordination meetings with ministers and business associations to outline a response to the escalating trade war, added that Jakarta is considering relaxing rules on local content for products in the information and communications technology sector.
Indonesia, which has long had a trade surplus with the US, one of its largest trading partners, exports palm oil, electric appliances, footwear, apparel and other goods to the world’s largest economy.
Indrawati – a former World Bank managing director who’s held her post as Indonesia’s finance chief under three consecutive administrations – is known as a steady hand in government, having led tax and budget reforms that helped Indonesia earn multiple credit rating upgrades by global ratings companies during her tenure.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday (Apr 8) said his country would also dispatch officials to Washington for talks.
He said over the weekend that Malaysia, the current chair of the Asean bloc of countries that were among the hardest hit by the new levies, would lead efforts to coordinate a regional response to US tariffs. BLOOMBERG
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