Trump announces 19% tariff on Indonesian goods under new trade deal

President Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 15, announced that the United States will impose a 19% tariff on goods imported from Indonesia under a new trade agreement.

The new agreement with the Southeast Asian country comes just days after Trump announced a 30% tariff on EU exports, starting August 1.

Speaking outside the Oval Office, Trump stated, “We have full access to Indonesia, everything. As you know, Indonesia is very strong on copper, but we have full access to everything. We will pay no tariffs.”

He added, “They are giving us access into Indonesia, which we never had. That's probably the biggest part of the deal. And the other part is they are going to pay 19% and we are going to pay nothing.”

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, just 2 days ago, signed a separate free trade agreement with the European Union. That agreement, known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), was concluded after a decade of negotiations.

Prabowo, speaking from Brussels, described CEPA as “not only about trade, it is about fairness, respect, and building a strong future together” for Indonesians.

Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, is a major copper producer, ranking fifth globally in 2024 with 1.1 million metric tons of copper output. The country surpassed both the United States and Russia in production, reinforcing its role in the global copper market.