President Donald Trump said today he has secured a trade deal with Indonesia that would involve additional sales of US energy and agricultural commodities and Boeing aircraft.
The deal, which Jakarta has yet to confirm, would commit Indonesia to buying $15bn worth of US energy commodities, $4.5bn of agricultural products and 50 Boeing aircraft, Trump said via his social media platform. Speaking to reporters earlier on Tuesday, Trump said the US, under the deal, would impose a 19pc tariff on all imports from Indonesia while that country would impose no tariffs on US products.
Trump said he finalized the trade deal after speaking with Indonesia's "Highly Respected President" Prabowo Subianto Tuesday morning. Prabowo has just concluded a trade deal with the EU, which would result in mutual lowering of tariffs on trade.
No other details on the US-Indonesia deal were immediately available from the White House and US trade agencies. Trump last week threatened to impose a 32pc tariff on all imports from Indonesia, beginning on 1 August.
Indonesia's government has already directed state-owned Pertamina to assess the potential for importing refined products from the US. That directive coincided with a parallel push by Pertamina to shift away from importing oil products from Singapore and import more fuel from the Middle East and the US.
The Trump administration since 5 April has been charging a 10pc extra "Liberation Day" tariff on most imports — energy commodities and critical minerals are exceptions — from Indonesia and nearly every foreign trade partner.
Trump last week publicized letters sent to leaders of 24 countries, including Indonesia, dictating new, higher tariff rates he said would apply beginning on 1 August.
The Trump White House said in April it expected to sign "90 deals in 90 days" following his "Liberation Day" tariffs.
The US has clinched only one limited trade deal, which keeps in place a 10pc tariff on US imports from the UK while granting a lower-tariff import quota for UK-made cars. Trump has announced a deal with Vietnam, setting tariffs at 20pc, but other terms remain unknown. A preliminary trade deal with China, agreed in early May, established a separate 10 August deadline for reaching an agreement on tariffs.
The US administration is engaged in talks with the EU, Canada and Mexico despite Trump's threats to raise tariffs on imports from those destinations to 30-35pc.
Brazil, on the other hand, said it would reciprocate with higher tariffs on US products after Trump threatened to impose a 50pc tariff on imports from Brazil.
Trump has justified imposing his "Liberation Day" tariffs by citing an economic emergency caused by allegedly unfair trade practices in foreign countries. His emergency-based tariff authority is facing challenges in US courts, with two lower-level courts ruling already in May that the White House could not impose such tariffs.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hold a hearing on 31 July in a case pitting the administration against a group of plaintiffs, including many US states. The US Court of International Trade, in an initial ruling on 28 May, found that Trump's emergency tariffs were unlawful and ordered the administration to rescind the import taxes and to refund already collected duties. The appeals court has suspended that decision until at least the 31 July hearing.
