Japan-Europe Get 15 Percent Reciprocal Tariff, Sesmenko Susiwijono: We Are Still Negotiating

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government continues negotiations with the United States (US) to lower import rates for a number of Indonesia's mainstay commodities, following the decision of Uncle Sam's country to provide lower rates to Japan and the European Union (EU).

Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso said that the previously agreed 19 percent reciprocal rate between Indonesia and the US is no longer the lowest, after Japan and the European Union managed to get a tariff of only 15 percent.

"Actually, we are still negotiating everything, including the 19 percent reciprocal rate. At that time we were the lowest, yesterday suddenly there was Europe and Japan which got 15 percent, so we are still negotiating again," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 29.

However, Susiwijono explained, the low tariffs obtained by Japan and the European Union were not unconditional.

Japan must buy US products, including defense equipment, with a total value of 8 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, Japan must also invest USD 550 billion.

Meanwhile, the European Union is required to buy US$750 billion worth of products, and invest US$600 billion.

According to Susiwijono, this requirement is quite heavy when compared to what was agreed by Indonesia and the US.

Although the 19 percent tariff agreement has been reached, Indonesia is still waiting for official implementation from the US side. Currently, the basic tariffs applicable to Indonesia's exports to the US are still at 10 percent and have been in effect since April 2025.

Furthermore, responding to Donald Trump's statement that he would impose a 15-20 percent tariff on countries that do not yet have an official trade agreement, Susi said she would ask for clarification with the US regarding the clarity of its implementation.

"The other period is nothing wrong, (enabled) an average of 15-20 percent. It's impossible. So what kind of clarity, we have to ask the USTR, including us countries that have agreed," he said.

As is known, apart from tariffs, the Indonesia-US trade agreement also includes a commitment to purchase a number of products from the US.

Among them are energy purchases of 15 billion US dollars, agricultural products worth 4.5 billion US dollars, investments 10 billion US dollars, and purchases of 50 Boeing aircraft, mostly Boeing 777 models.

Although it has agreed on a reciprocal rate of 19 percent, the government is still continuing the process of further negotiations with the US side.

Negosiasi lanjutan menyasar berbagai komoditas yang pada dasarnya tidak dapat diproduksi sendiri oleh AS, sehingga memiliki ketergantungan tinggi terhadap impor dari negara lain, termasuk Indonesia.

Di antara komoditas yang menjadi fokus ialah produk-produk sumber daya alam unggulan Indonesia seperti kelapa sawit, kopi, kakao, dan produk agro lainnya.

Further negotiations target various commodities that the US basically cannot produce alone, so they have a high dependence on imports from other countries, including Indonesia.

Among the commodities that are the focus are Indonesia's leading natural resource products such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa, and other agro products.