Indonesian and US companies on Wednesday signed trade and investment\ndeals valued at more than US$7 billion a day ahead of Indonesian\nPresident Prabowo Subianto\u2019s meeting with US President Donald Trump to\nsign a final trade deal, the US-ASEAN Business Council said.<\/p>\n
The agreements, signed at a dinner for Prabowo hosted by the US\nChamber of Commerce, include purchases by Indonesian firms of 1 million\nmetric tons of US soybeans, 1.6 million tons of corn, and 93,000 tons of\ncotton over unspecified periods, according to a US-ASEAN Business\nCouncil (USABC) fact sheet.<\/p>\n
It added that Indonesia will buy 1 million tons of wheat this year\nand up to 5 million tons by 2030.<\/p>\n
The deals include a memorandum of understanding between US mining\ngroup Freeport McMoRan and the Indonesian Ministry of Investment for\ncritical minerals cooperation and an agreement between state oil\nproducer Pertamina and Halliburton Co to cooperate on oilfield recovery,\nUSABC said.<\/p>\n
They also include two semiconductor joint venture agreements,\nincluding one valued at $4.89 billion between Essence Global Group and\nanother unvalued venture involving Tynergy Technology Group.<\/p>\n
USABC valued Indonesia\u2019s purchases of soybeans at $685 million, wheat\nat $1.25 billion, cotton at $122 million and an additional purchase of\nUS shredded worn clothing for recycling at $200 million.<\/p>\n
In the decade from 2015 to 2024, Indonesia averaged annual imports of\n2.3 million metric tons of US soybeans, nearly 800,000 tons of wheat,\nabout 180,000 tons of cotton, and less than 100,000 tons of corn,\naccording to US Census Bureau trade data.<\/p>\n
The Southeast Asian country has imported around $3 billion worth of\nUS agricultural products annually in recent years, making it the 11th\nlargest market for all US farm goods.<\/p>\n
Not all of the deals were given price tags, and these included\nIndonesian purchases of US lumber and furniture products.<\/p>\n
Prabowo said at the dinner that the deals were among the implementing\nagreements to the US-Indonesian trade deal that he is due to sign on\nThursday with Trump. He said these would help reduce Indonesia\u2019s trade\nsurplus with the US, adding: \u201cI\u2019m very optimistic about the future of\nour relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Indonesian leader arrived in Washington this week for Trump\u2019s\nBoard of Peace meeting, with hopes Jakarta can secure a slight tariff\nreduction to 18 per cent from 19 per cent agreed last year. That would\nmatch the rate Trump granted to India earlier in February.<\/p>\n
In remarks to the dinner, Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer\ndid not mention the final tariff rate for Indonesia, but said the\nAgreement on Reciprocal Trade between the two democracies \u201cwill mean\nmore trade \u2014 bilateral trade. It will mean more investment. It\u2019ll mean\ndeeper, more comprehensive economic, investment and trade ties.\u201d<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-us-firms-sign-over-7-billion-in-trade-investment-deals-1771642731", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }