rade Minister Budi Santoso has said the administration of United States President Donald Trump is keeping an eye on President Prabowo Subianto’s food self-sufficiency program as a possible indication of import restrictions to come.
In a previous meeting with the US ambassador to Indonesia, Budi said Washington viewed Southeast Asia’s largest economy as one of the biggest contributors to the US trade deficit, and was therefore closely scrutinizing some of Jakarta’s policies.
Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of US$31.04 billion (Rp 514.1 trillion) in non-oil and gas commodities last year. The US was the leading contributor to that surplus at $16.84 billion, according to the Trade Ministry.
Indonesia’s trade policy “will be watched closely, particularly to assess whether there is [a policy] that could hamper [US] market access to this country, including tariffs,” Budi said on Tuesday, as reported by Bisnis.com.
Prabowo’s food self-sufficiency program has been on Washington’s radar due to the different views between the two countries. According to the minister, the US government perceived the program as a potential brake on the entry of foreign agricultural commodities to Indonesia.
But this was not the case, Budi said, explaining that the program aimed to fulfill domestic demand and boost local production, not restrict agricultural imports. Besides, the country was yet to achieve self-sufficiency in several food commodities, such as grapes and apples, so imports were still necessary.
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