Ministry Of Trade: Trump Wins US Presidential Election Will Effect On Indonesian Exports

Export (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) said that Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Election would have an impact on Indonesia's exports. This is because the US is the main trading partner.

Head of the Trade Policy Agency (BK Perdag) Fajarini Puntodewi said that in the upcoming administration, Trump is estimated to impose an additional tax rate of 10-20 percent for all goods entering the United States.

"Of course, with this policy, there will be an impact, both with trade with America and with China of course, where these two countries are the main partners of Indonesian trade," he said, quoting Antara.

Puntodewi explained that the United States and China are Indonesia's main trading partners.

In addition to imposing additional tax rates for other countries, Trump is also said to provide a large tariff for Chinese products entering the United States, which is 60-100 percent.

However, said Puntodewi, in Trump's first leadership, Indonesia's export trend to the United States actually increased and experienced a surplus.

Then, when continued by the Joe Biden administration, this trend jumped even sharper.

Therefore, in Trump's leadership in the future, it is hoped that there will not be major changes in export performance.

"We are facing this second Trump, there are not too many changes to our export performance," he said.

Previously, Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Esther Sri Astuti assessed that Indonesia needs to improve and improve industrial competitiveness in anticipation of Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election which will reduce imports from other countries.

"The important thing is that Indonesia improves industrial competitiveness," said Esther.

Given Trump's leadership in the previous period, Esther was aware of the possibility of rising import rates from other countries to the United States.

Moreover, Trump carries the American First policy which prioritizes the domestic economy in Uncle Sam's country.

Therefore, the Government of Indonesia is advised to strengthen domestic industries in order to reduce the effects of Trump's policies in the future.

Meanwhile, economist from the Center of Economics and Law Studies (Celios) Nailul Huda appealed to the Indonesian government to strengthen the domestic economy in anticipation of the effects of Trump's victory.

The reason is, Trump has a less harmonious relationship with China which has an impact on the emergence of a trade war. This condition hinders the demand for goods from other countries to enter the two countries.

In effect, Indonesian products can be increasingly depressed, including textile products. This pressure can have an impact on economic growth in terms of detained foreign trade.

Therefore, the Government of Indonesia also needs to find alternative export market share other than traditional markets.

Huda recommends the market in the Middle East as an alternative for Indonesia.

"The export market share of Middle Eastern countries can be an option for our export products," he said.