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President Prabowo Assigns Coordinating Minister And 2 Ministers To Lobby US On Import Tariffs

President Prabowo Subianto has assigned one coordinating minister and two ministers to be a lobbying team to negotiate with the United States government regarding the 32 percent import tariff. 

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that he, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and Foreign Minister Sugiono will be part of the lobbying team sent to the US. Airlangga said that the government will also send an official letter to the US government regarding the negotiation plan. 

"The President has assigned me, the Foreign Minister and the Finance Minister," said Airlangga at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Monday, April 7, 2025. 

Airlangga said that the government's lobbying team will negotiate with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the United States Trade Representative. 

Previously, Prabowo said that he would negotiate with US President Donald Trump to negotiate the import tariffs imposed on Indonesia. "We will convey that we want good relations, fair relations, equal relations, reciprocity. So, what they ask for is reasonable, we must respect it," Prabowo said in a speech at a harvest event in Majalengka, West Java, Monday, April 7, 2025. 

Indonesia has not had an ambassador in the United States for the past two years. Rosan Roeslani was the last Indonesian Ambassador to the United States to serve. 

Rosan ended his term in Washington on July 17, 2023 when former President Joko Widodo appointed him as Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises or BUMN. Currently, Rosan has been appointed by Prabowo as Minister of Investment and Downstream. 

Member of the House of Representatives Commission on Foreign Affairs Tubagus Hasanuddin asked the government to immediately place a worthy figure in the position of Indonesian Ambassador to the United States. 

According to him, the vacant position will affect bilateral relations between Jakarta and Washington. This is because communication between countries is generally bridged through each embassy. "In my opinion, this is not good. Therefore, a figure must be immediately selected to fill this vacancy," said the PDIP politician. 

On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, US President Donald Trump released a new import tariff policy called 'Reciprocal Tariffs' or Trump tariffs. This policy will impose additional tariffs on imported products from various countries, including several Asian countries, including Indonesia. 

In the announcement of the new trade policy at the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon local time, President Trump stated that the US would apply a minimum import tariff of 10 percent to all imported products. 

In addition, certain countries will be subject to higher reciprocal tariffs as part of this new policy. The amount of Trump's tariffs on Asian countries varies. Cambodia is the Asian country with the highest tariff. Meanwhile, Singapore is only subject to 10 percent. Meanwhile, Taiwan and Indonesia are both subject to a tariff of 32 percent. 

Tag: Airlangga Hartarto Prabowo Subianto Sugiono