{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1566613,
        "msgid": "indonesia-accepts-us-poison-pill-trade-clause-restricting-china-deals-1771769950",
        "date": "2026-02-21 14:13:39",
        "title": "Indonesia Accepts US \"Poison Pill\" Trade Clause Restricting China Deals",
        "author": " ",
        "source": "GALERT",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Trade",
        "summary": "Indonesia has signed a reciprocal trade agreement with the Trump administration that contains provisions restricting the country from entering new trade pacts with nations that jeopardize US \"essential interests\"\u2014widely understood to target China. Although the deal reduces US tariffs on Indonesian goods from 32% to 19%, analysts warn it heavily favours Washington and contradicts Indonesia's stated \"free and active\" foreign policy, particularly given Indonesia's substantial trade ($154.",
        "content": "<p>Indonesia Swallows US Poison Pill in New Trade Deal as Trump Isolates\nChina Jakarta. Indonesia has signed a poison pill clause in the US trade\nagreement, which includes provisions that analysts warn are Washington\u2019s\nattempt to counter China. President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s Washington trip\nreached its climax from an economic standpoint when Indonesia inked its\nhard-fought US reciprocal trade accord. Despite the government\u2019s past\ndenials of poison pill clauses, the 45-page document tells a different\nstory. Under that deal, the Donald Trump 2.0 administration has\nthreatened to terminate the agreement and reimpose the April tariff\nhikes if Indonesia strikes a new trade pact with a country that\n\u201cjeopardizes\u201d Washington\u2019s \u201cessential interests\u201d \u2014 similar to what close\nneighbor Malaysia has accepted. However, the US will only consider this\nmove if consultations with Jakarta \u201cfail to resolve its concerns\u201d. There\nis also a similar clause on digital trade accords, although of a softer\ntone that does not mention cancellations. \u201cIndonesia shall communicate\nwith the US before entering into a new digital trade agreement with\nanother country that jeopardizes essential US interests,\u201d the document\nreads. The Malaysian deal has that clause as well, with the same\nwording, except Kuala Lumpur\u2019s uses \u201cconsult\u201d instead of \u201ccommunicate\u201d.\nBut neither tariff agreement explicitly states which country the US is\nreferring to. However, analysts agree that the US has China in mind when\nproposing these provisions. Mohammad Faisal, the executive director of\nthe think-tank Core Indonesia, said that Washington might be worried\nabout Jakarta being chummy with Beijing in the economic sphere. \u201cThe\n[newly signed] deal is actually not just about US-Indonesia or\nrebalancing deficit trade. Behind it is a bigger agenda of restricting\nChina\u2019s growth and geopolitical influence, including by weakening\nBeijing\u2019s dominance in global trade and critical mineral supply chain,\u201d\nFaisal told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. Faisal pointed out the\nprovision that would let the US gain access to Indonesian critical\nminerals. The expert warned that this could be one of Trump\u2019s tricks to\ntake a better hold of Indonesian critical minerals, which have been\namply controlled by Chinese investors. Bhima Yudhistira, who heads the\nthink-tank Celios, said the deals so far have clearly been largely in\nfavor of the US, which he found to be ironic, considering Indonesia\u2019s\n\u201cfree and active\u201d foreign policy. The economist compared the deal to\nIndonesia\u2019s free trade pact with the European Union (EU), which did not\nrestrict Jakarta from working with other countries. \u201cI doubt Indonesia\nhas ever had trade agreements that offer such poison pills,\u201d Bhima told\nthe Globe. Chief negotiator Airlangga Hartarto did not mention this\ntermination threat during the press briefing that came after the\nsigning, although the minister was content that Washington had agreed to\nscrap the provisions unrelated to trade. For instance, the US was\nwilling to remove \u201cprovisions related to the South China Sea\u201d, Airlangga\nsaid, referring to the strategic waterway that has become the subject of\nterritorial disputes between Beijing and several ASEAN members. Asked\nabout the possibility of Chinese goods entering the US via Indonesia,\nAirlangga responded that the agreement in question \u201cdoes not involve\nthird countries. As per writing, Airlangga\u2019s spokesman Haryo Limanseto\nhas not responded to the Globe\u2019s queries on this poison pill. The latest\nagreement keeps the US tariffs on Indonesian goods at 19%, down from the\n32% rate that Trump originally introduced back in April. Indonesia has\nalso secured tariff exemptions for thousands of goods, including palm\noil and electronic components. When Trump launched his tariff salvo last\nyear, he claimed that the move was necessary to shrink his country\u2019s\ntrade deficit. Tariff deal aside, Indonesia\u2019s export-import activities\nwith the US\u2019 top rival have been burgeoning in recent years. Data showed\nIndonesia-China trade neared $154.6 billion throughout 2025, up 13.16%\nyear-on-year. Trade with Hong Kong reached $5.5 billion that year. China\nand Hong Kong have always been Indonesia\u2019s top 3 sources of foreign\ninvestments. According to the government stats, the investment inflows\nfrom Hong Kong totaled $10.6 billion throughout 2025. Indonesia saw $7.5\nbillion Chinese investments that year, while US investors only put less\nthan half of that number or just close to $3 billion. Tags:\nKeywords:<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-accepts-us-poison-pill-trade-clause-restricting-china-deals-1771769950",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}