1 week Ago By Reuters
JAKARTA: Senior Indonesian ministers will travel to Washington to present their US counterparts with offers of significantly increased US imports and investment proposals as part of their negotiations to avoid hefty US tariffs.Chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Foreign Ministry officials will lead a delegation for negotiations after the US hit Indonesian exports with a 32 per cent tariff, which has been paused for 90 days.They are due to meet Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Treasury as well as the office of US Trade Representative, said Airlangga.
Susiwijono Moegiarso, the senior official at the coordinating ministry for economic affairs, said a proposal to buy US goods worth US$18 billion to US$19 billion aimed to cover the US trade deficit with Indonesia.Indonesia may also propose that state firms invest in US oil, gas, and information technology sectors, said Todotua Pasaribu, the deputy minister for investment."Strategically, we will look what we can invest there that later we can absorb for our national interest," Pasaribu said.
Indonesia posted a US$16.80 billion trade surplus with the US, its third-biggest export destination, last year, according to Indonesian government data, with electronics, apparel and clothing, and footwear the leading export products.© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd.
