The Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) has sent a letter of\nobjection to President Prabowo Subianto regarding the reciprocal trade\nagreement, or Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), between Indonesia and\nthe United States, which was agreed upon on 19 February 2026. The\nExecutive Director of CELIOS, Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, stated that\nthere are 21 points of objection regarding the agreement between the two\ncountries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis contains points to prevent ratification, whether in the form of\na Presidential Decree or in the form of a law,\u201d he said in a press\nconference on Monday, 23 February 2026.<\/p>\n
The letter has been sent through the Ministry of State Secretariat\nand was received on Monday. The letter states that approval of the\nagreement, which has broad and strategic implications, is an act of\ngovernment that cannot be separated from national legal obligations.<\/p>\n
After the ART was agreed upon, the US Supreme Court ruled on 20\nFebruary that the reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump\nviolated the law. CELIOS also believes that the cooperation in the ART\ndoes not have a valid legal basis in the eyes of US law.<\/p>\n
Therefore, negotiations or revisions are no longer necessary. Prabowo\nSubianto is asked to immediately send a notification of termination of\nthe trade agreement to the United States.<\/p>\n
CELIOS also plans to sue the government in the State Administrative\nCourt (PTUN) for alleged unlawful acts. \u201cIf the notification is not\nanswered within 10 days, we will file a lawsuit in the PTUN,\u201d said Bhima\nYudhistira.<\/p>\n
CELIOS\u2019s objections also refer to Article 4 of Law Number 24 of 2000\nconcerning International Agreements. Article 1 states that an agreement\nbetween the government and one or more countries, international\norganizations or other international legal entities based on agreement,\nand the parties are obliged to carry out the agreement in good\nfaith.<\/p>\n
Then in Article 2, the government needs to be guided by national\ninterests and based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, and\npay attention to both national and applicable international law. Bhima\nsaid that the problem is that there is an indication that the ART\nagreement may be without ratification by the DPR or using a law, because\nthere is an option to use a presidential decree.<\/p>\n
The problem, said Bhima, is that this agreement covers various\naspects such as labor, energy, food, and technology. \u201cThis should have\nbeen consulted with the DPR first. So it cannot be directly using a\npresidential decree,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The points that became CELIOS\u2019s objections include the obligation to\nimport oil and gas from the United States worth US$15 billion, which has\nthe potential to trigger a deficit in the national oil and gas balance.\nThen the elimination of the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) for most\nimported goods from the United States violates the Minister of Industry\nRegulation Number 35 of 2025. In fact, TKDN is to empower domestic\nindustry for development to become high value-added and technology\ntransfer.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Choice: After the US Supreme Court Overturned Trump\u2019s\nTariffs<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/celios-rejects-ratification-of-indonesia-us-trade-agreement-1772028580", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }