DPR Member Warns of Risks in Indonesia-US Trade Agreement

MEMBER of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Yulius Setiarto, has called for a review of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement (ART) between Indonesia and the United States.

Yulius outlined the consequences of the agreement signed by President Prabowo Subianto and President Donald Trump on February 19, 2026. The agreement was signed without parliamentary discussion and approval, nor were there any substantial changes to the original agreement. Yulius stated that the ART should be reviewed because it has implications for national interests.

“Moreover, the substance of the ART contains loopholes that could pose significant challenges for Indonesia, especially in the context of digital sovereignty,” said Yulius in a written statement on May 15, 2026.

Yulius emphasized that data is a strategic asset, so Article 3 of the ART, particularly regarding data transfer in Article 3.2, needs to be reviewed. This article relates to Digital Trade Facilitation and promotes digital liberalization, which facilitates the flow of data for innovation and digital trade between Indonesia and the United States.

“The problem is that these regulations are unbalanced and favor US technology companies, but they risk harming national interests,” said the politician from the PDI-Perjuangan faction.

Yulius said one of the risks is Indonesia’s obligation to ensure cross-border data transfers through trusted electronic means, with adequate protection for business operations.

He said Indonesia is entering a subtle trap because it still relies on foreign digital infrastructure and services. This makes national data protection dependent on global technology dominated by US companies.

“This risk must be offset by adequate verification and oversight mechanisms to ensure the security and interests of citizens are protected,” he said.

Another issue, according to Yulius, is in Article 3.4 regarding Market Access Requirements, which prohibits Indonesia from requiring technology transfer, access to source code, or algorithms as a prerequisite for US companies entering the market.

Yulius said that although this prohibition will increase attractiveness for investors and encourage digital economic growth, the country must provide adequate audit and accountability mechanisms, especially to anticipate risks of cybersecurity problems or biased algorithms that harm national interests.

Furthermore, Article 3.3 concerns the Digital Trade Agreement, which requires Indonesia to communicate with the US before signing new digital trade agreements with other countries that are considered harmful to US interests.

“This rule will limit Indonesia’s ability to cooperate with other countries. This will make it difficult for the country if it needs to cooperate on digital trade with parties other than the US to support national interests,” he said.

He emphasized that the public must remind the government that state sovereignty in this digital era is determined by who controls the data. He also questioned the country’s digital sovereignty when digital infrastructure and governance rely too much on external parties, such as the United States.

According to Yulius, without adequate infrastructure preparation, data transfer mechanisms simply facilitate access to citizens’ data without control.

“We must understand the risk that cyberattacks are no longer just a potential threat but also a real threat that must be anticipated as a stake in sovereignty. A country’s vital infrastructure can be co-opted through cyberattacks,” he said.

Yulius cited the example of the 2015 Russian hacking of power plants in Ukraine. He said that the escalation of the US and Iran war in the Middle East would increase the potential threat to Indonesia’s cybersecurity and national security.

Moreover, Yulius said that so far, the supervisory body for personal data protection (PDP) mandated by the PDP Law has not been established. In addition, digital infrastructure such as a national data center still relies on temporary infrastructure.

Yulius emphasized that the potential cyber threat further underscores the urgency of discussing the draft law on Cybersecurity and Resilience (KKS) to complement existing regulations. He believes this law will strengthen Indonesia’s bargaining position by focusing on protecting vital infrastructure and national data security, in order to reduce dependence on foreign countries.

“The approach taken in the KKS bill should be resilience-based, so that a digital ecosystem can be created that is able to recover quickly from external attacks or interventions, and focuses on protecting civil rights,” he said.

Yulius said that control of personal data and algorithms by foreign parties can be used as an instrument to influence public perception, affect political preferences, and disrupt national interests.

“This warning is in line with concerns about the influence of ‘foreign agents,’ as often expressed by President Prabowo, which threatens national stability and state sovereignty,” said Yulius.

Therefore, before implementing the ART, Yulius asked the government to immediately take several strategic steps. First, accelerate the preparation of technical implementing rules, including data classification and risk control. This includes defining what data can and cannot be transferred.

Second, he asked the government to form a cross-agency task force to closely monitor the implementation of data transfers. Third, at the same time, it is necessary to optimize the implementation of the PDP Law, including establishing technical implementing rules so that the requirements for cross-border data transfers can be verified in a balanced manner.

Fourth, Yulius believes that accelerating the discussion and ratification of the KKS bill is needed to ensure that the protection of vital infrastructure and civil data resilience has a strong legal basis to protect national digital sovereignty.