Today's Top 3 News: Indonesia and US Sign Trade Deal for New Golden Age Alliance

13 hours ago 6

February 20, 2026 | 04:26 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tempo English compiled the top 3 news on Friday, February 20, 2026. Here are the highlights: Aurora Forecast: Indonesia and US Sign Trade Deal for New Golden Age Alliance; US-Indonesia Trade Deal Finalized: 1,819 Products Duty-Free; and Fact Check: Claims of Bill Gates Planning Covid-19 in Epstein Files Misleading.

The following is the list of the top 3 news on Tempo English today:

1. Indonesia and US Sign Trade Deal for New Golden Age Alliance

The Indonesian government officially signed a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States on Friday, February 20, 2026. The signing ceremony took place in Washington, D.C.

Streamed live on the official YouTube account of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the document was signed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer. The document signed by both parties is the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.

President Prabowo Subianto and President Donald Trump were not seen during the live broadcast of the signing. However, following the ceremony, Airlangga Hartarto confirmed in a press conference that Prabowo and Trump had signed the Implementation of the Agreement toward New Golden Age US-Indonesia Alliance document.

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2. US-Indonesia Trade Deal Finalized: 1,819 Products Duty-Free

President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump signed the Agreement of Reciprocal Trade (ART) in Washington, D.C., on Friday morning, February 20, 2026, Indonesia time. The signing also officially imposes a 19 percent tariff on Indonesian products entering the US.

The bilateral meeting between the two heads of state lasted approximately 30 minutes following the Board of Peace activities. "Today, the President immediately signed the Agreement of Reciprocal Trade cooperation entitled Toward a New Golden Age for the US-Indonesia Alliance, which was signed jointly by President Prabowo and President Donald Trump," stated Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto during a virtual press conference.

Under the ART document, 1,819 agricultural and industrial products will receive zero tariffs or be exempt from import duties into the US. These include palm oil, coffee, cocoa, spices, rubber, electronic components such as semiconductors, and aircraft parts.

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3. Fact Check: Claims of Bill Gates Planning Covid-19 in Epstein Files Misleading

A number of posts across various Facebook [archive] and Instagram accounts claim that Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein have been planning the Covid-19 pandemic since 2017. This narrative emerged after the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released millions of documents from the Epstein Files to the public in late 2025.

The claim cites a document titled "EFTA02657725.pdf", which contains correspondence between Gates and Epstein regarding a strain pandemic simulation. The posts allege that this email is authentic evidence that Gates conducted a Covid-19 simulation long before the global outbreak occurred.

Is this correspondence between Bill Gates and Epstein truly evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic was orchestrated as early as 2017?

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