Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, met with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the first day of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in Paris, France on Tuesday, June 3, 2025,  marking a strengthened Indonesia-U.S. dialog, particularly on trade and investment.

The meeting also reaffirmed Indonesia's stance as a cooperative and proactive partner in international negotiations and its commitment to building a fair and mutually beneficial trade environment with the United States.

“We highly appreciate the positive response from the U.S. Government to Indonesia’s proposals, which reflects our shared commitment to strengthening open trade and enhancing the resilience of global value chains amid evolving global trade dynamics,” Airlangga said as quoted in a statement on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.

He emphasized the need for constructive, results-oriented collaboration to reach a reciprocal trade agreement that is both fair and beneficial to both parties.

Following up on the discussions held in April 2025, the Government of Indonesia has taken measures through intensive coordination between technical teams from both countries to review and respond to the initial draft agreement submitted by the U.S.

“We are committed to submitting a list of U.S. commodity tariff preferences ahead of the second round of negotiations, scheduled for June 2025 in Washington, D.C. Indonesia stands ready to engage in open dialogue and address negotiation challenges in areas such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, digital trade, rules of origin, and economic and national security issues,” Airlangga said.

He cited Indonesia’s efforts to address the bilateral trade imbalance by increasing imports of U.S. energy and agricultural products, while also encouraging investments in priority sectors.

“We hope both parties can work together in good faith to find mutually beneficial solutions, as demonstrated in past successful trade agreements,” Airlangga noted.

In the face of growing global challenges, Airlangga reaffirmed Indonesia’s readiness to accelerate the negotiation process, with the aim of reaching an agreement before the reciprocal tariff measures come into effect in July 2025. This strategic and measured approach is expected to pave the way for a strong and sustainable long-term partnership between the two countries.

Meeting with WTO

On the sidelines of the first day of the 2025 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM), Airlangga held a bilateral meeting with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Tuesday morning, Paris time.

During the meeting, Airlangga reiterated Indonesia's commitment to the multilateral trading system.

“The WTO plays a vital and irreplaceable role in promoting and strengthening a rules-based multilateral trading system. Therefore, Indonesia hopes the WTO will continue to support developing countries in enhancing their trade capacity so they can participate more fully in a fairer and more inclusive global trading system,” he said.

He also addressed several key national agenda items in the meeting, including issues on agriculture, fisheries, and e-commerce.

As the only international trade body with a mandate to facilitate trade agreement negotiations and a dispute settlement mechanism, the WTO currently has 166 member countries, three-quarters of which are developing nations. Indonesia’s membership in the WTO is governed by Law No. 7/1994 on the Ratification of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

Throughout its membership, Indonesia has benefited significantly in terms of international trade development through the application of core WTO principles and facilities such as National Treatment, Most Favored Nation (MFN), Special and Differential Treatment (SDT), and various capacity-building programs.