Airlangga Affirms Transshipment Controversy Will Not Disrupt Indonesia-US Trade Tariffs

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has affirmed that US accusations regarding transshipment practices, or the redirection of Chinese goods to the United States via Indonesia, will not disrupt the trade tariff agreement between the two countries.

Airlangga also assessed that the report would not affect the implementation of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) that Indonesia and the US have agreed upon.

“It seems it will not affect the ART,” he said when met at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Jakarta, Friday (21/8/2026).

According to Airlangga, the ART agreement between Indonesia and the US has essentially been signed by both parties. The process still underway relates to refining provisions under the US Section 301 mechanism.

Regarding the transshipment allegations, Airlangga explained that the government is still monitoring developments in the White House report. He also stressed that the accusations claiming Indonesia serves as a transshipment route do not align with the facts.

“There have been no steps taken yet, so we are just monitoring. But what has been conveyed does not match the existing facts,” Airlangga asserted.

Some time ago, the White House released a report titled The Great Transhipment Scam. The report listed Indonesia as part of a shadow transshipment network alongside several other countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.