- Despite some moderate voices in Trump’s cabinet, implementing an across-the-board import tariff may remain in the US government’s agenda – a threat to Indonesia’s higher value-added exports.
- Despite its much larger nominal size, the Chinese import market is ersatz compared to the US market, given Indonesia’s highly diversified exports to the US.
- Securing a trade agreement with the US is crucial for Indonesia’s industrialisation effort, given that higher reliance on the Chinese market may further concentrate the domestic manufacturing sector.