Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto announced Wednesday that Indonesia's latest trade agreement with the US marked a new era of mutual benefit as Washington slashed its looming tariffs on Jakarta to 19 percent.

Prabowo – now en route to Jakarta from his weeks-long business trip – said he had just spoken to his American counterpart, Donald Trump, by phone. The call came against the backdrop of the back-and-forth negotiations over reciprocal tariffs that were set to enter into force next month.

Trump recently revealed on social media that he had agreed to lower the tariffs on Indonesian goods to 19 percent, a 13 percentage point drop from the rates unveiled back in April. In return, Indonesia will get rid of its trade and non-trade barriers on American goods entering its market. The deal will also see Jakarta buying 50 Boeing jets, $15 billion worth of energy, and $4.5 billion agricultural products from the US.

"I had a very good call with President Donald Trump. Together, we agreed and concluded to take trade relations between Indonesia and the US into a new era of mutual benefit between our two great nations," Prabowo posted on his official Instagram account.

"President Trump extends his warm regards to the people of Indonesia." Prabowo, however, did not disclose the details of the agreement.

Speaking to reporters at the Joint Base Andrews, Trump said earlier that day he had welcomed the latest trade deal with Jakarta.

"Indonesia was great. He [Prabowo] is a great president. We made a terrific deal where they [Indonesia] opened up the entire country to trade with the US. We weren't allowed to go in and trade," Trump told the press, as seen in a White House video.

The tariff move is part of Trump's strategy to improve the US' trade imbalance. The US reported that its deficit with Indonesia had jumped 5.4 percent year-on-year to $17.9 billion in 2024. Trump had previously threatened Indonesia with a 32 percent tariff rate effective next month.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesiaus-trade-deal-marks-new-era-of-mutual-benefit-prabowo-say