Trump announces Indonesia trade deal, hints at India pact ‘on similar lines’

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (July 15) that he has reached an agreement with Indonesia according to which goods from the latter to the US would be levied 19 per cent tariff but US exports to Indonesia will face zero tax, and also said the US is “working on similar lines” for an agreement with India.

US-Indonesia deal

“We made a deal with Indonesia. I spoke to their really great President…and we made the deal. We have full access to Indonesia, everything. As you know, Indonesia is very strong on copper, but we have full access to everything. We will pay no tariffs. They are giving us access into Indonesia, which we never had. That’s probably the biggest part of the deal,” said Trump.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 billion in US energy, $4.5 billion in American agricultural products, and 50 Boeing jets, many of them 777s.

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He also said that “for the first time ever, America’s ranchers, farmers, and fishermen will have complete and total access to the Indonesian market”.

There has been no official announcement about the agreement from the Indonesian government.

Trump on India

As Trump explained the US-Indonesia deal to reporters, he gave them an update on the ongoing New Delhi-Washington discussions for a trade deal, and said, “India is basically working along that same line”.

“We’re going to have access to India. You have to understand, we had no access to any of these countries. Our people couldn’t go in, and now we’re getting access because of what we’re doing with the tariffs,” Trump told reporters.

Also Read: Timeline of India-US mini-trade deal: Trump, Modi and 3 months of talks

The US President claimed that America is making significant strides towards securing access to Indian markets.

No word from India

There has been no word from India about the status of the trade talks with the US which missed the July 9 deadline that was set by Trump.

India reportedly refused to give in on important agricultural demands, and is adamant about preventing access to India’s dairy market, a sector that employs more than 80 million people.

India’s trade delegation is currently in Washington to try to finalise an agreement between the two countries. India is one of the few nations still negotiating with the US on tariffs.

Also Read: Trump warns Russia of 'severe tariffs' if there is no deal on Ukraine in 50 days

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that India-US trade deal talks are progressing at a “fast pace”.

“Negotiations are going on at a very fast pace and in the spirit of mutual cooperation so that we can come out with a win-win trade complementing agreement with the United States,” said Goyal.

President Trump has set a new deadline of August 1 this year for the tariffs to be decided upon. He has already sent tariff letters to more than 20 nations.

Fresh threat of 100 pc tariffs

In the latest development, Trump has warned that BRICS nations, including India, could face 100 per cent tariffs for trading with Russia.

He has indicated plans to impose secondary sanctions on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil, and a huge majority of US senators support the legislation that could give Trump the authority to impose tariffs of 100 per cent or more on nations assisting Russia.

Also Read: We negotiate from position of strength, not under deadlines: Goyal on US trade deal

India is the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels.

NATO has also given a warning to India, China, and Brazil of 100 per cent tariffs if they continue to trade with Russia.