Trade deal: Trump sets 19% tariff on Indonesian goods

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the United States will impose a 19% tariff on goods imported from Indonesia, as part of a new trade agreement with the Southeast Asian nation.

The move is part of the administration’s broader strategy to renegotiate trade terms and address the U.S. trade deficit.

Trump described the agreement with Indonesia as one of several deals the administration is pursuing ahead of an August 1 deadline, when tariffs on most U.S. imports are set to increase.

He also revealed that letters outlining new tariff rates for dozens of smaller countries would be issued soon, signaling further trade actions in the coming weeks.

Although Indonesia is a relatively minor trading partner compared to major economies like China or the European Union, the agreement marks another step in the administration’s push for more favorable trade terms.

Trump also offered new details on planned tariffs targeting pharmaceutical products, though specifics were not immediately disclosed.

Speaking in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump said he favored blanket tariffs over complicated negotiations, but his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were keen to land more trade agreements.

Upon his arrival back in Washington, Trump told reporters that letters would be going out soon for many smaller countries, suggesting they would face a tariff of “a little over 10%.”

He said his administration would also announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States, probably at the end of the month, starting with what he called a low tariff rate to give companies time to move manufacturing to the U.S. before imposing a “very high tariff” in a year or so.

“They are going to pay 19% and we are going to pay nothing … we will have full access into Indonesia, and we have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced,” Trump said outside the Oval Office.

Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that Indonesia had agreed to buy $15 billion of U.S. energy products, $4.5 billion of American farm products and 50 Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab jets, though no time frame was specified.

He told reporters the deal with Vietnam was “pretty well set” but said it was not necessary to release details.

As that deadline approached, negotiations were under way with other nations eager to avoid more U.S. levies beyond a baseline 10% on most goods that has been in place since April.

Trump’s roll-out of the policies has often been chaotic. His moves have upended decades of negotiated reductions in global trade barriers, unsettling international financial markets and threatening a new wave of inflation.

Based on Trump tariff announcements through Sunday, Yale Budget Lab estimated the U.S. effective average tariff rates will rise to 20.6% from between 2% and 3% before Trump’s return to the White House in January. Consumption shifts would bring the rate down to 19.7%, but it’s still the highest since 1933.

Trump outlined an Indonesia deal similar to a preliminary pact struck recently with Vietnam, with a flat tariff on exports to the U.S. roughly double the current 10% and no levies on U.S. exports going there. It also included a penalty rate for so-called transhipments of goods from China via Indonesia and a commitment to buy some U.S. goods.

Indonesia’s total trade with the U.S. totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 – does not rank in the top 15, but it has been growing. U.S. exports to Indonesia rose 3.7% last year, while imports from there were up 4.8%, leaving the U.S. with a goods trade deficit of nearly $18 billion.

The top U.S. import categories from Indonesia, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from the International Trade Centre’s TradeMap tool, last year were palm oil, electronics equipment including data routers and switches, footwear, car tires, natural rubber and frozen shrimp.

Trump had threatened the country with a 32% tariff rate starting August 1 in a letter sent to its president last week. He sent similar letters to about two dozen trading partners this month, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, laying out tariff rates ranging from 20% to 50%, plus a 50% tariff on copper.

The August 1 deadline gives targeted countries time to negotiate about lower tariff rates. Some economists have also noted Trump’s pattern of backing off his tariff threats.

Since launching his tariff policy, Trump has clinched only a few “framework” agreements, falling short of earlier promises to land “90 deals in 90 days.”

So far, such deals have been reached with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, and an interim deal has been struck with China to forestall the steepest of Trump’s tariffs while negotiations continue between Washington and Beijing.

Trump said talks with India were moving “along that same line,” saying the agreement would give U.S. firms access to the large Indian market.

(REUTERS)

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