Airlangga confirms ART focuses solely on Indonesia-US trade

Jakarta (ANTARA) — Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has stated that discussions under the reciprocal tariff agreement, or Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), between Indonesia and the United States are focused on trade cooperation.

He confirmed that the substance of this ART differs from similar agreements negotiated with other countries. In the accord with the US, clauses falling outside economic cooperation were agreed to be excluded, with the agreement focusing solely on trade and investment.

“Unlike various ART agreements with other countries, the United States agreed to remove non-economic cooperation clauses. These include provisions relating to nuclear reactor development, South China Sea policy, and border defence and security. As such, our ART is purely related to trade,” Airlangga said during a virtual press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

The Indonesian and US governments completed the trade tariff negotiations in Washington on Thursday local time (20 February). The ART was signed by Coordinating Minister Airlangga together with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Under the agreement, the US maintains a reciprocal tariff of 19 per cent on imported products from Indonesia, except for certain products that receive a zero per cent tariff.

The US also committed to establishing a mechanism enabling Indonesian textile and garment products to enjoy a zero per cent reciprocal tariff for specified volumes.

The quota will be determined based on the volume of textile exports manufactured using American cotton and synthetic fibres.

In addition to textiles and garments, a total of 1,819 tariff lines for Indonesian products now benefit from tariff exemptions of up to zero per cent.

Products included in this scheme comprise palm oil, coffee, cocoa, spices, rubber, electronic components including semiconductors, and aircraft parts.