Indonesia opened up its market, India deal to be similar: Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he believes Washington will conclude a trade deal with India similar to the agreement reached with Indonesia, offering the clearest indication yet of his expectations for the ongoing trade negotiations.

- Shashank Mattoo

“Indonesia was great. He (Prabowo Subianto) is a great President and we made a terrific deal where they opened up the entire country to trade with the United States. We weren't allowed to go in and trade. I think something similar will happen, I would say, with India,” Trump said on Tuesday.

Trump announced that under the Indonesia agreement, Indonesian goods would face a 19% tariff when exported to America, while US exports would face no tariffs entering the Indonesian market—an asymmetric arrangement favouring American exporters.

“As part of the Agreement, Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in US Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777’s,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social. Indonesia had initially received a tariff letter stating that the country’s goods would face a 32% American tariff starting on August 1 if an agreement was not reached, before concluding the deal that reduced this to 19%.