PKB: Trade Agreement with US a Major Leap for Indonesian Industry

Jakarta – Deputy Chairman of PKB’s Central Leadership, Faisol Riza, has described the trade agreement between President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump through the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) scheme as a strategic measure strengthening Indonesia’s position in the global trade landscape.

According to Riza, the bilateral agreement opens significant opportunities for accelerating domestic mineral downstream processing, which has previously faced various challenges relating to investment, technology, and market access.

“Our mineral downstream processing has faced many challenges. With the Indonesia–US trade agreement, silica sand processing as a primary material for chip or semiconductor production has the potential to be realised domestically. This is a major leap for Indonesian industrialisation,” Riza stated on Friday, 27 February 2026.

He explained that silica sand is one of the key raw materials in the global semiconductor industry. Through this cooperation, Indonesia has the potential to become one of the suppliers to US semiconductor companies, whilst simultaneously increasing the added value of domestic natural resources.

Riza also responded to observers who contend that the agreement is not exceptional given Indonesia’s previous involvement in various trade agreements including the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (AC-FTA), and the multilateral framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

According to him, precisely because Indonesia has experience with regional and multilateral agreements, the bilateral approach such as ART provides greater flexibility and adaptability to national interests.

“Bilateral agreements allow for evaluation and renegotiation should there be clauses that prove disadvantageous later on. This differs from multilateral agreements binding many countries and far more complex to review,” he said.

Riza also affirmed that the agreement does not undermine domestic industry or small and medium enterprises. Rather, the government has ensured that domestic industrial products are not placed in direct competition with US products in the domestic market.

He highlighted the fact that 1,819 Indonesian product tariff lines received zero per cent tariff facilitation to the US market. Prior to this agreement, these products faced tariffs between 8 and 12 per cent.