JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia announced a spate of concessions for U.S. imports on Tuesday, including reducing taxes on electronic goods and steel, ahead of trade negotiations with Washington over President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
South East Asia’s biggest economy will send a high-level delegation to the United States 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 Indonesia’s delegation to the U.S.
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 businesses to discuss how to respond to U.S. tariffs.
Expanding on other efforts, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Indonesia would lower import taxes on steel, mining products and health equipment from the United States to 0% to 5% from rates of 5 to 10%.
She also said Indonesia will lower the import tax for electronics, mobile phones and laptops from any country 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.
Indonesia posted a $16.8 billion trade surplus last year with the U.S., 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 U.S. include electronics, apparel and clothing, and footwear.
Earlier, the government said it was also discussing plans to increase imports from the U.S., including buying components for an oil refinery project and reviewing the possibility to reduce a local content rule for U.S. tech and communication firms.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Stanley Widianto; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by John Mair and Hugh Lawson)
