Trump agrees to 19% tariff on all imports from Indonesia
Trump posted on social media on Tuesday that the US finalized a trade deal with Indonesia.
He wrote, "Indonesia will pay the United States a 19 percent Tariff on all Goods they export to us, while U.S. Exports to Indonesia are to be Tariff and Non Tariff Barrier FREE."
Trump also posted, "As part of the Agreement, Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets."
The latest agreement will reduce the rate for Indonesia announced earlier by the Trump administration.
The administration had been saying it would impose against Indonesia from August 1 a 32 percent levy consisting of a 10 percent universal tariff and what it called "reciprocal tariffs."
Trump told reporters later on Tuesday that the US has full access into Indonesia, "which we never had."
He added, "We have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced."
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Japan Times
35 minutes ago
- Japan Times
In Japanese politics, rice is the 'third rail'
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Rice cultivation in Japan dates back to the Yayoi Period, approximately 2,500 years ago. It is part of the nation's most ancient religious rituals. Every Shinto shrine in Japan today has prominent displays of local residents' offerings, including large bags of locally produced rice and casks of sake made from that rice. Stay updated on Japan's rice crisis. Quality journalism is more crucial than ever. Help us get the story right. For a limited time, we're offering a discounted subscription plan. Unlimited access US$30 US$18 /mo FOREVER subscribe NOW When the Japanese discuss food security, they are primarily referring to rice. There is flexibility when it comes to imports of wheat, corn and beef, but Japanese-grown rice will be protected, whatever the cost. If we need to import more foreign-grown rice to resolve the tariff dispute with the U.S. over cars, we will utilize it in food processing and distribute it as Japanese aid to foreign countries. But the reality is that Japan faces severe challenges in its rice production ecosystem. Far too many farmers are above 65 with no successors. Far too many rice-growing farms are suboptimal in terms of the acreage available to support the cost of investing in highly automated AI-based production technologies. The Japanese government has been locked in a conundrum for decades: Maintain the price of rice grown in Japan at a government-set level that allows farmers to survive economically, but not to prosper. A policy then emerged to pay farmers to reduce the area planted with rice and leave it fallow or to switch to other crops. The system was rigid and lacked the flexibility to adapt to climate change or years with excessive rainfall, drought or extended high temperatures. The policy relied on massive warehouses of stored rice stock. However, using that to maintain stable market prices while keeping farmers financially sound requires political leadership, which Japan currently lacks. 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Recently, the postal system has reached a nadir, with a five-year ban being imposed on the use of its national truck fleet to move mail due to safety violations involving alcohol testing of its drivers. Now, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has tasked farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi to find quick solutions to the rice system. While good-intentioned, like his father, he could inadvertently destroy the Japanese rice-growing culture, which has existed for more than 2,500 years. The major issues for rice farmers have been the same ones for quite some time. While the overall population is declining steadily, the average age of Japanese rice farmers now exceeds the normal retirement age and is increasing steadily. For decades, government policy was to intentionally reduce the amount of acreage under rice cultivation, despite the climate's impact on production. Under trade pressures, Japan imports over 750,000 metric tons of rice rather than investing in growing more of its own. 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38 minutes ago
G-20 Officials Affirm Importance of Multilateral Cooperation
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The Diplomat
4 hours ago
- The Diplomat
The Great Wall Between China and the EU
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On the trade front, Trump started with the introduction of 25 percent tariffs on EU auto, steel, and aluminum imports, followed by the warning of a 50 percent tariff on all EU goods in absence of a trade deal. Finally, a July 12 announcement placed a 30 percent tariff on EU imports. These policies have created worries in Europe about the future of the transatlantic economy. Trying to capitalize on the transatlantic rift, Beijing started a charm offensive toward Europe last February with tailor-made messages such as 'your best friend has abandoned you' and 'China and the EU should serve as the world's anchors of stability.' Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and two of his deputies have been touring Europe, accusing the United States of abandoning the international order while touting that China was interested in maintaining that order. 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However, what the Europeans have been waiting for has not arrived from Beijing. Citing China's lack of reciprocity and unfair trade practices, the EU skipped the usual High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue, signaling clear frustration and skepticism. The Chinese government has not put a serious offer on the table, which would require major change on structural economic and security issues. On the economic front, the list of deep structural issues that have prevented the EU from creating some kind of détente with China is long and includes chronic trade deficits, restricted access for European companies to the Chinese market due to non-tariff barriers and opaque regulations, market asymmetries, forced technology transfer, and currency manipulation. A major issue for the EU is Chinese industrial overcapacity, aided by state subsidies, which leads to export dumping in EU markets, depressing prices and undermining European industries. In a notable example, the EU hit Chinese electric vehicles with penalties of running from 17 percent to 45.3 percent over dumping allegations. However, Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturers have established production capabilities in EU countries, thereby seeking to establish their goods as 'made in the EU,' threatening European industries. While China has been a major trading partner for the EU for years, the EU's trade deficit with China has increased in the last decade, exceeding 300 billion euros ($350 billion) in 2024. Another structural issue faced by the EU for decades is China's restrictions on market access. The head of the European Chamber of Commerce recently spoke out on one of the problems in this area, saying that 'a lack of fair access to government procurement in China has been a long-standing issue for European companies operating in the country.' The EU has responded to these obstacles with a new tool of its de-risking strategy, the International Procurement Instrument (IPI). In the first-ever use of the IPI, the EU recently restricted the access of Chinese medical device manufacturers to the EU's sizable procurement market for five years. At the summit, the EU and China are expected to tackle another pressing issue: China's restrictions on rare earth exports to the EU. While these critical minerals are crucial for the EU's auto, defense, and renewable energy industries, China has been slow-rolling rare earth licenses for months, in an outgrowth of the China-U.S. trade war. In the security domain, the primary source of tension in China-EU relations is China's role in supporting Russia's war against Ukraine. Von der Leyen sharply criticized China's 'unyielding support for Russia,' warning it is fueling instability in Europe and 'de facto enabling Russia's war economy' – a stance she said the EU 'cannot accept.' Von der Leyen further warned that 'how China continues to interact with Putin's war will be a determining factor for China-EU relations going forward.' Ignoring European criticisms, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently told the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, that it was not in China's interest for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine. Wang said the war currently keeps the focus of the United States on Russia and Eastern Europe, and a Russian loss would shift U.S. attention back on China and the Indo-Pacific. The China-EU summit will coincide with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two sides, but the occasion is unlikely to be celebratory given the many divisions that currently strain their relationship. Chinese leadership has made clear in recent months that, while it wants a rapprochement with Europe, it is unwilling to make sacrifices for it by significantly modifying China's conduct on structural issues in the economic, technology, and security domains. It is time the EU's decision-makers and opinion-leaders recognized that China continues to be a strategic competitor and systemic rival that is intent on perpetuating its unfair economic practices and doubling down on its alliance with Russia and support for the Ukraine war. As a result, China-EU rapprochement is an unrealistic pipedream. Even if the transatlantic relationship is going through a rough patch, it is worth remembering that the United States and its European allies were the founders of the liberal international order, built on the values of human rights, democracy, free markets, the rule of law, and non-aggression. Communist Party-ruled China, contrary to what its leaders like to say during their charm offensives, does not embrace these values and seeks to transform the international order in its own authoritarian image. As long as China continues to flout the rules of the international order with its unfair economic practices, widespread human rights violations, and support for unlawful aggression, it is not in the EU's interest to warm up its relations with Beijing. The China-EU summit will hence serve to confirm how differently the two sides see the world, how different are the values they hold dear, and how widely their interests diverge. Held in the proximity of the Great Wall, the discussions between European and Chinese leaders will once again demonstrate that there continues to be a great wall between the EU's values and interests and those of China's.
