President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were coming, while offering fresh details on planned duties on pharmaceuticals.
Trump announced the pact with Indonesia, a relatively minor US trading partner, as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners and ways to shrink a huge US trade deficit.
Letters setting tariff rates for dozens of smaller countries were also coming soon, he said on Tuesday.
Trump outlined an Indonesia deal similar to a preliminary pact struck recently with Vietnam, with a flat tariff on exports to the US roughly double the current 10% and no levies on US 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 US goods.
Indonesia’s total trade with the US – totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 – does not rank in the top 15, but it has been growing. US exports to Indonesia rose 3.7% last year, while imports from there were up 4.8%, leaving the US with a goods trade deficit of nearly $18 billion.
The top US import categories from Indonesia, according to US 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.