U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a 32% tariff on imports from Indonesia – significantly higher than the baseline 10% levied on many other countries. The White House cited several reasons for applying the elevated tariffs, primarily targeting countries with which the United States has the largest trade deficits.
According to data from Indonesia’s Trade Ministry, the country posted a trade surplus of $16.84 billion with the U.S. in 2024 — its largest with any single trading partner. In the first two months of this year alone, Indonesia recorded a $3.14 billion trade surplus with the U.S., making it the biggest contributor to Indonesia’s overall trade surplus.
In a statement on Wednesday the White House announced, “Indonesia maintains local content requirements across a broad range of sectors, complex import licensing regimes, and, starting this year, will require natural resource firms to onshore all export revenue for transactions worth $250,000 or more.”
President Trump officially announced the sweeping tariff measures during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday. “Access to the American market is a privilege, not a right. The United States will no longer put itself last on matters of international trade in exchange for empty promises,” the White House said.
Some countries will be subject to higher specific or reciprocal tariffs of more than 10%. Indonesia is one of the countries affected by these tariffs. According to the graph released by the White House, Indonesia ranks eighth on the list of countries facing increased U.S. tariffs, at a rate of 32%.
The White House website announced that the implementation date of Trump’s tariffs will be divided into two stages. In the first stage, the 10% tariff for all countries will take effect on Saturday, April 05, 2025.
After that, the special tariffs will take effect starting on Wednesday, April 09, 2025. Trump said these additional tariffs were meant to be reciprocal, and he needed to impose them because the U.S. has a trade deficit with these countries – including Indonesia.
Also see our recent related article: Indonesia and Canada Sign CEPA.
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