WASHINGTON: Indonesian and US companies on Wednesday signed deals valued at more than US$7bil a day ahead of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s meeting with US President Donald Trump to sign a final trade pact, the US-Asean Business Council (USABC) says.
The agreements, signed at a dinner for Prabowo hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, include purchases by Indonesian firms of one million metric tonnes of US soybeans, 1.6 million tonnes of corn, and 93,000 tonnes of cotton over unspecified periods, according to a US-Asean Business Council (USABC) fact sheet.
It added that Indonesia will buy one million tonnes of wheat this year and up to five million tonnes by 2030.
The deals include a memorandum of understanding between US mining group Freeport-McMoRan and the Indonesian Investment Ministry for critical minerals cooperation and an agreement between state oil producer Pertamina and Halliburton Co to cooperate on oilfield recovery, USABC said.
Freeport and the investment ministry signed an initial deal to extend its mining permit beyond 2041, Freeport-McMoRan Chairman Richard Adkerson said at the dinner.
“It is a life of resource extension, and we cannot wait to undertake delineation drilling of what that ore body will be for many decades to come in the future,” he said.
The deals also include two semiconductor joint venture agreements, including one valued at US$4.89bil between Essence Global Group and an Indonesian partner and another unvalued venture involving Tynergy Technology Group.
USABC valued Indonesia’s purchases of soybeans at US$685mil, wheat at US$1.25bil, cotton at US$122mil and an additional purchase of US shredded worn clothing for recycling at US$200mil.
In the decade from 2015 to 2024, Indonesia averaged annual imports of 2.3 million metric tonnes of US soybeans, nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat, about 180,000 tonnes of cotton, and less than 100,000 tonnes of corn, according to US Census Bureau trade data.
The South-East Asian country has imported around US$3bil worth of US agricultural products annually in recent years, making it the 11th largest market for all US farm goods.
Not all of the deals were given price tags, and these included Indonesian purchases of US lumber and furniture products.
Indonesia announced in July a string of business deals with the United States worth US$34bil as part of its tariff negotiations, including wheat and soybean import deals similar to those signed on Wednesday.
Prabowo said at the dinner that the deals were among the implementing agreements to the US-Indonesian trade deal that he is due to sign on Thursday with Trump.
He said these would help reduce Indonesia’s trade surplus with the United States, adding: “I’m very optimistic about the future of our relationship.
“The Indonesian leader arrived in Washington this week for Trump’s Board of Peace meeting, with hopes Jakarta can secure a slight tariff reduction to 18% from the 19% agreed last year.
“That would match the rate Trump granted to India earlier in February.
In remarks at the dinner, Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer did not mention the final tariff rate for Indonesia but said the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade between the two democracies “will mean more trade – bilateral trade.
“It will mean more investment. It’ll mean deeper, more comprehensive economic investment and trade ties.” — Reuters
