December 27, 2025 | 11:12 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said sovereign wealth fund Danantara has started talks on U.S. access to Indonesia's critical minerals. The discussion is part of the negotiations for a zero percent tariff on several natural resource commodities from Indonesia.
"In fact, several U.S. companies have already engaged with Indonesian critical minerals firms," Airlangga said during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, December 26, 2025, as quoted from Antara.
Danantara is operating under a business-to-business scheme, Airlangga said, tasked with facilitating cooperation between Indonesian companies and U.S. firms keen to invest in the country's critical minerals sector.
He stressed that the United States is not a new player in Indonesia's mining sector, citing copper extraction by Freeport-McMoRan, which has operated in the country since 1967.
Hartarto added that Indonesia's nickel, bauxite, and rare earth elements have long attracted U.S. and global interest, referring to the operations of Vale Indonesia in nickel production since the 1970s.
Meanwhile, the rare earth minerals sector remains under development. "It is a by-product of tin," Airlangga said.
Hartarto confirmed that the United States seeks access to Indonesia's critical minerals to support strategic industries, including automotive, aviation, and defense manufacturing.
Separately, he said President Prabowo Subianto and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to sign an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade in late January 2026, following the completion of technical and legal reviews earlier that month.
Both sides have agreed on the substance of the agreement, while talks are now entering the legal drafting and language harmonization stage.
Airlangga revealed that the technical teams from Indonesia and the U.S. will continue their meetings for legal drafting and document cleanup in the second week of January 2026. "The target is to finish within one week, around January 12 to 19," he said in a virtual press conference on Monday, December 22, 2025.
Hartarto also highlighted his recent meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, saying Washington has expressed willingness to grant tariff exemptions for Indonesia's key commodities, including palm oil, cocoa, and coffee. The Indonesian government, he added, aims to expand the scope of exemptions beyond tropical natural resource products.
Prior to this, Airlangga also claimed that the agreement benefits both countries equally. "There are no Indonesian policies restricted by this agreement. Surely, this agreement is commercial and strategic in nature and beneficial to the economic interests of both countries equally," he said.
According to Airlangga, there are no longer any factors that could hinder the signing of the Agreement on Reciprocal Tariff (ART). He mentioned that the dynamics in the discussions with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are related to language harmonization. Additionally, Airlangga stated that Indonesia and the U.S. are not discussing any other agreements outside of the trade deal.
Airlangga stated that this agreement follows a joint statement by the two countries released on July 22, where the import tariffs for Indonesian products were reduced from 32 percent to 19 percent. He mentioned that the U.S. has granted tariff exemptions for several Indonesian flagship products, such as palm oil, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
Read: Indonesian Textile Products Not Exempt from U.S. Import Tariffs, Minister Confirms
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