Zulhas: No Rice or Chicken Imports from the US

The Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, denied the existence of a trade agreement between Indonesia and the United States that would require Indonesia to import agricultural products from the US.

He stated that Indonesia is currently not importing rice or chicken, as Indonesia has a rice surplus of 1.2 million tons in 2025. In fact, in the near future, Indonesia will export 2,280 tons of rice to Saudi Arabia. “So for now, we have a surplus,” said Zulhas at the DPR, MPR, and DPD complex on Thursday, February 26, 2026.

He claimed that Indonesia’s agricultural commodity production will also increase in the coming year, as the government will carry out a large-scale self-sufficiency project.

To support this project, he said, the Ministry of Trade has announced that it will build feed factories and day-old chick (DoC) facilities to be distributed throughout Indonesia.

“So it’s not just a temporary surplus, God willing, it will increase in the coming years,” said the General Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The obligation for Indonesia to import agricultural products from the United States worth US$4.5 billion, as part of the trade agreement, is stated in the document entitled Agreement of Reciprocal Trade (ART).

The obligation is stated in the fourth appendix of the ART document, entitled “Purchase Commitment” for the agricultural product category. In the first point, Indonesia is required to support and facilitate commercial agreements to import agricultural commodities such as cotton, flour, rice, and corn.

In the second point, the United States requires Indonesia to increase imports of their agricultural products. Furthermore, in the third point, it states that the United States will not consider Indonesia to be in breach of the commitment if the annual import volume stated in the second point does not meet the amount specified therein.