Indonesia Poised to Receive Tariff Exclusions from the US
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, stated that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) plans to grant 18 product tariff exclusion requests submitted by Indonesia under the Section 301 investigation. Additionally, Indonesia will face a 10 per cent additional import tariff.
This opportunity for tariff exclusions was revealed by Airlangga following a bilateral meeting with the USTR on the sidelines of the 2026 OECD ministerial meeting in Paris. “This step is certain to provide a significant economic stimulus for national industry, reduce export cost burdens, and increase the competitiveness of Indonesia’s flagship commodities in the US domestic market,” he said in a written statement on Friday, 5 June 2026.
During the meeting, the US Trade Representative announced positive recognition of the Indonesian Government’s progressive commitment to enforcing labour standards, particularly regarding the resolution of forced labour issues and the prohibition of imports of products suspected of involving forced labour. Following the agreement on the Agreement of Reciprocal Trade (ART), Indonesia, through the Ministry of Trade, issued Minister of Trade Regulation Number 9 of 2026, which regulates the prohibition of imports of products produced via forced labour.
This positive response places Indonesia within a priority group of six nations (the ‘Good Group’) out of 60 countries eligible for special consideration by the US Government. The six nations are Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan. Furthermore, Indonesia has been assigned a 10 per cent tariff based on the Section 301 investigation results, alongside five other countries, while 54 other nations will face an additional 12.5 per cent tariff.
Section 301, under the Trade Act of 1974, is a regulation that empowers the US Trade Representative to investigate and impose sanctions on foreign governments deemed to be engaging in unfair trade practices against the US. This measure was taken after the US Supreme Court invalidated the legal basis for previously implemented reciprocal tariff policies. The US has been conducting Section 301 investigations into 16 economic territories or 60 countries since March 2026. The investigated regions include China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.
In the Indonesian context, the Section 301 investigation by the United States aims to examine allegations of overproduction in Indonesia’s manufacturing sector, which is considered potentially trade-distorting, as well as issues related to the enforcement of import bans on goods produced using forced labour.