Indonesia to maintain dialogue with US on tariffs, jet purchases, critical minerals

Indonesia will continue talks with the US on sectoral tariffs, Boeing purchases, and critical minerals after a landmark trade deal set a 19% baseline tariff on its exports, a senior official confirmed.

“We will continue to negotiate with good intention,” said Mari Elka Pangestu, Special Adviser to President Prabowo Subianto on international trade and multilateral cooperation, during an interview with Haslinda Amin on foreign media, Caliber.Az reports.

The discussions will also aim to strengthen business relationships, support US efforts to diversify its critical mineral supply chain, and secure favorable terms on key industrial products such as aluminum and steel.

Pangestu noted that some major commercial deals are tied to the broader trade framework. Among them is a potential order by PT Garuda Indonesia to acquire more than 50 aircraft from Boeing Co., a purchase seen as a part of the airline’s ongoing turnaround plan.

While no formal agreement has yet been signed, Garuda’s interest remains strong.

“These are all commercial deals that will, of course, have to be done on competitive and business-to-business terms,” she said. “There are things being done, being undertaken, to improve Garuda’s performance and ability, obviously, to purchase these Boeing jets.”

The broader trade deal, reached earlier this week between President Donald Trump and President Prabowo, includes Indonesia’s commitment to buy over $19 billion worth of US energy and agricultural goods, while removing duties on American imports to Indonesia.

It marks one of the first bilateral trade pacts secured under the current round of US trade diplomacy, signaling Indonesia’s strategic intent to balance its relations between Washington and Beijing amid growing global trade tensions.

Pangestu, who also serves on Indonesia’s National Economic Council (DEN), emphasized that Jakarta would provide the US with greater export access on non-competing or locally scarce goods such as wheat and cotton—measures expected to have only a limited effect on domestic markets.

“It’s not about opening up totally and giving in everything to the US,” she said. “It is more nuanced and balanced than what maybe appears to the outsider.”

According to Pangestu, the agreement puts Indonesia in a competitive position by lowering tariff barriers for key exports like palm oil.

“But of course we will continue to be talking to the US,” she added. “There are other components to a trade deal that we would of course like to have more benefit coming to us.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev