President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Indonesia that includes a 19% tariff on goods imported from the country, continuing his tariff push amid concerns the levies on foreign products are starting to boost inflation.
Indonesia also has agreed to purchase billions in U.S. energy, agriculture products and airplanes, Trump said July 15 in a social media post. U.S. products will not face a tariff in Indonesia, the president said.
“We have full access to Indonesia. We will pay no tariffs,” Trump told reporters on July 15.
A nation of more than 280 million people, Indonesia is the third country to strike a trade deal with the United States since Trump began threatening steep tariffs. The president secured earlier deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries in April but paused them until this month to negotiate trade deals. Few deals have materialized though, and the president has opted to start sending letters to countries dictating tariff rates that will go into effect on Aug. 1.
The letters have been sent to more than two dozen countries in recent days. The tariff rates range from 20% for the Philippines to 35% for Canada and 50% for Brazil. Trump’s initial letter to Indonesia threatened a 32% tariff before he later settled on 19%.
Trump is touting the tariff revenue the United States is receiving as he pushes for a trade reset with the rest of the globe, but a new inflation report is raising concerns.
Prices rose 2.7% in the 12 months through June, the Labor Department announced on July 15, the highest annual inflation rate since February. Rising prices for housing, food and gasoline drove the increase.
“This marks the first inflation report where tariffs are beginning to show up materially in key categories – from appliances and furnishings to apparel and groceries,” said Daniel Hornung, senior fellow at MIT and former deputy director of the National Economic Council, in a written comment.
Trump shrugged off the inflation report, telling reporters on July 15, “The numbers were very, very good,” and the United States is “making a fortune” on tariffs.
The United States imported $28.1 billion in goods from Indonesia in 2024, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. That’s well below top trading partners such as Mexico and Canada, which each exported more than $400 million in goods to the U.S. in 2022.
Contributing: Daniel de Visé
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump strikes third trade deal, adding Indonesia to UK, Vietnam
