JAKARTA - Indonesia announced a number of concessions for US imports on Tuesday, 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 Washington next week seeking a deal to ease the impact of a 32% tariff due to take effect on Wednesday.
Indonesia plans to buy liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and soybeans from the United States as part of the negotiation efforts, said chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto, who will lead the delegation.
He was speaking at a gathering attended by President Prabowo Subianto, the country’s top ministers, the Bank Indonesia governor, the financial authority chief, and business leaders to discuss how to respond to the US tariffs.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Jakarta would also lower import taxes on steel, mining products and health equipment from the United States to a range between zero and 5%, from current rates of 5% to 10%.
As well, she said, the import tax for electronics, mobile phones and laptops from any country would be cut to 0.5% from 2.5%.
Indrawati said there is room for Indonesia to replace Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand and China as a source of some exports to the United States under the Trump administration’s new tariff regime, given the higher reciprocal tariffs they face.
Indonesia posted a $16.8-billion trade surplus last year with the US, which was its third-biggest export destination, receiving shipments worth $26.3 billion in 2024, according to Indonesian government data.
Indonesia’s main exports to the US include electronics, apparel and clothing, and footwear.
Earlier, the government said it was also discussing plans to increase imports from the US, including buying components for an oil refinery project and reviewing the possibility to reduce the local content rule for US tech and communication firms.
The local content rule was cited as the reason for barring domestic sales of the Apple iPhone 16 until the US company sweetened its investment offer.
