Renegotiation Opportunities For RI-US Open Trade After Trump's Tariff Is Canceled By Court

The decision of the United States (US) appeals court which stated that the reciprocal tariff made by President Donald Trump was considered open to opportunities for Indonesia to renegotiate trade with the US.

Economists encourage the government to take advantage of this momentum to review the reciprocal tariff agreement which is considered more detrimental to national interests.

The US appeals court (The US Court of Assessment for the Federal Circuit) in its ruling on Friday, August 29, 2025, upheld a previous verdict declaring Trump beyond the authority when imposing tariffs.

Even so, the tariff temporarily remains valid while waiting for further legal proceedings.

This condition is considered to create momentum as well as uncertainty. According to the Executive Director of the Center of Reform on Economics or Core Indonesia Mohammad Faisal, Indonesia should proactively start renegotiations.

"And what we should have voiced was because there was still a time span to negotiate, actually there was still an opportunity to renegotiate with the US side," Faisal said in an online public discussion entitled "Indonesia at Intersection: Inequality, Fiscal Reform and the Future of the Economy", Monday, September 1.

Even so, Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Esther Sri Astuti reminded the government to remain vigilant.

Unfinal legal proceedings could continue to the US Supreme Court level.

"For example, if the Trump tariff decision is canceled, yes, thank God. However, we must also be prepared whether this is true. Maybe later the United States Supreme Court (US) has canceled, but the decision is still ongoing. That is, we have to confirm again how the implementation of the impact will be," he explained.

Adapun Indonesia telah menyepakati tarif resiprokal sebesar 19 persen. Namun, kesepakatan itu disertai konsesi non-tarif berat, seperti pelonggaran aturan Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri (TKDN), penghapusan larangan ekspor mineral kritis hingga kewajiban pembelian produk energi dan pertanian AS.

Kesepakatan itu menempatkan ekspor Indonesia dalam posisi kurang menguntungkan. Dari sisi tarif, angka 19 persen setara dengan Malaysia (19 persen) dan tidak jauh dari Vietnam (20 persen). Namun, Indonesia kalah saing dari sisi biaya logistik dan harus memberikan konsesi non-tarif jauh lebih besar.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has agreed on a reciprocal rate of 19 percent. However, the agreement was accompanied by a non-heavy concession, such as easing the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) rules, eliminating the ban on critical mineral exports to the obligation to purchase US energy and agricultural products.

The agreement puts Indonesia's exports in an unfavorable position. In terms of tariffs, the figure of 19 percent is equivalent to Malaysia (19 percent) and not far from Vietnam (20 percent). However, Indonesia loses competitiveness in terms of logistics costs and must provide a much larger non-tariff concession.