Safeguarding National Export Opportunities and the Future
Amid a global economic slowdown and increasing external protectionism, Indonesia’s international trade performance throughout 2025 continued to demonstrate solid resilience.
Total national exports reached approximately US$282.91 billion, whilst imports stood at around US$241.86 billion. The national trade balance recorded a surplus of US$41.05 billion, extending the positive trend of recent years and serving as an important buffer for national macroeconomic stability.
In the bilateral context, the United States remains a strategic partner. Indonesia’s exports to the US throughout 2025 were recorded at approximately US$30.96 billion, whilst imports from the US totalled US$12.85 billion.
Indonesia’s international trade posted a surplus of approximately US$18.11 billion against the US, an increase compared to the previous year. This figure demonstrates that amid tariff dynamics and global policy pressures, the competitiveness of Indonesian exports to the American market has been maintained.
This momentum forms the important foundation for the signing of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) in 2026, whereby Indonesia enters that phase with a strong trade foundation rather than in a condition of deficit or structural pressure.
The Indonesia-United States trade relationship in recent years has been inseparable from changes in tariff policy under President Donald Trump. Since 2018 specifically, the America First approach drove the use of tariffs as a strategic instrument to reduce the US trade deficit.
Steel, aluminium, and several manufactured commodities became primary targets, whilst trading partner nations were asked to adjust their market access structures.
In 2025, the discourse around tariff tightening re-emerged in the American political landscape. Indonesia faced pressures also experienced by a number of other developing nations with significant trade surpluses against the US.
In this context, Indonesia opted for an approach of active diplomacy and technical negotiation to ensure that the tariff structures imposed remained competitive and did not cause major disruption to labour-intensive sectors or downstream industries.
On the domestic side, competitiveness strengthening continued through logistics efficiency improvements, digitalisation of licensing services, and customs system integration. Port dwelling time, now averaging two to three days, represents a significant structural improvement compared to a decade ago. This transformation has minimised the negative impact of external tariff pressures.