Indonesian delegation meets USTR for tariff negotiation

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian delegation, led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, met with Ambassador Jamieson Greer from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington D.C. to discuss US reciprocal tariff negotiations.

In a statement received on Friday (April 18), Hartarto stated that the USTR is the leading institution in charge of coordinating US international trade policies and commodity tariffs and serves as the main trade negotiator for the US in all bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade and investment agreements.

"Therefore, USTR is the first US counterpart to be visited by representatives of all countries seeking to negotiate tariffs with the US," he explained.

At the Thursday's meeting, Hartarto presented the Indonesian government's offer and request in response to US trade tariff policies, including strategic steps to propose a reduction in trade tariffs.

Hartarto said Indonesia submitted a concrete offer related to efforts to balance the US trade deficit by increasing imports and purchasing goods from the US.

He stated that Indonesia can increase purchases of goods from the US based on Indonesia's needs for energy products like oil and gas and agricultural items, such as soybeans and wheat, which have been imported from the US.

Indonesia also offered to optimize cooperation in critical minerals and encourage strategic investments through a business-to-business (B-to-B) scheme, he remarked.

The minister then stated Indonesia's request for reduced export tariffs to the US, especially for its top 20 main products, as Indonesia's import tariffs have been considered higher than several competitor countries.

Indonesia hopes to receive lower tariffs to become more competitive when exporting its products to the US market, Hartarto added.

During the meeting, Ambassador Greer responded positively to the offer and request submitted by Indonesia and agreed to discuss technical matters between the Indonesian Technical Team and the USTR.

He specifically assigned Sarah Ellerman, the USTR Assistant for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, to coordinate technical discussions with Indonesia.

Both parties agreed to discuss the issue intensively and aimed to complete the negotiation and discussion of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the US within the next 60 days.

As a concrete step, Ellerman immediately invited the Indonesian technical team on Friday to discuss the format, mechanism, and schedule of the negotiations directly.

As one of the countries that had an earlier opportunity to negotiate the US reciprocal tariff policy, the USTR commended the strategic steps taken by the Indonesian Government, especially regarding the gesture of adjusting domestic regulations in export and import activities.

"We appreciate the steps offered by the Indonesian government. Currently, the US is focusing on expanding the market and strengthening the domestic economy, and we see great opportunities to work with Indonesia," Ambassador Greer remarked.