DENVER, Colo. – President Donald Trump recently signed the U.S.-Indonesia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, which expands duty-free access for U.S. beef to Indonesia, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). 

As part of the trade deal, signed Feb. 23, Indonesia will purchase at least 50,000 metric tons of U.S. beef annually, and now recognizes USDA authority on food safety and animal health, opening more opportunities for exports, USTR officials said.

The agreement addresses the many barriers maintained by Indonesia, and successful implementation will allow Indonesian importers and consumers to have meaningful, consistent access to U.S. beef for the first time, said Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) president.

He said of the agreement, “This is in line with USMEF’s market potential estimates and should help incentivize true implementation of the commitments Indonesia has made on removing its non-tariff barriers.”

He said export value could reach $400 million to $500 million in the near term, following implementation, and exports of U.S. pork have also been restricted by Indonesia’s import licensing regime, and by limited approval of U.S. plants.

According to the International Trade Association, Indonesia’s import licensing regime is a strict, electronically managed system requiring importers to obtain a Business Identification Number via its Online Single Submission System.

“These obstacles go away under this agreement, enabling further growth in U.S. pork exports, including further-processed products,” Halstrom said.

Key terms of the agreement include: Indonesia eliminating tariff barriers on over 99 percent of U.S. products exported to Indonesia across all sectors, including for agricultural products, health products, seafood, information and communications technology, automotive products, and chemicals.

In addition, Indonesia will address and prevent barriers to U.S. agricultural products being sold in the Indonesian market, including exempting food and agricultural products from all of Indonesia’s import licensing regimes and ensuring transparency, and fairness with respect to geographical indications, including meats and cheeses, USTR officials said.

Andrew P. Griffith, University of Tennessee professor of agricultural and resource economics, told Farm World, “Opening new trade markets and reducing trade barriers is almost always a good thing for the product being traded from a price standpoint.

“In other words, if more beef moves to an international destination than was previously moving, then it should support higher beef and cattle prices,” he said. “Fifty thousand metric tons would be 5-6 percent of the quantity of beef the U.S. exported in 2025.

“This is a fairly large percentage to a relatively small country, but the question is if it will actually happen,” he added. “The U.S. cattleman can only benefit from exporting more beef, but it is going to be difficult to produce more beef in the near term.”

Grant Dewell, Iowa State University associate professor of veterinary medicine and Extension beef veterinarian, told Farm World, “Fifty thousand metric tons is not a huge amount, compared to 1.3 million tons we already export. But getting access to this market not only expands our current export, since Indonesia is the fourth largest country based on population, the opportunity for future expansion is important.”

Right now, he said, Indonesia imports most of their beef from Australia: “Indonesia has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, so combining this buying power with their population, quality U.S. beef should be in demand and have the potential to increase exports of high-quality beef. That is the advantage over South Korea and Japan. Those are stable countries, so we don’t have a lot of opportunities there.”

In the past, he said, Indonesia policies included non-tariff trade barriers that made exporting U.S. beef difficult: “One of those barriers was, instead of recognizing USDA inspection as qualifying for safety assurance, Indonesia would only approve individual plants after they had conducted their own inspections.

“With this new agreement, USDA inspection is considered sufficient, so individual plants don’t have to try and get approval on their own, giving the U.S. beef industry a level playing field to export,” he added.

Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation said, “This important agreement enhances the strong and growing relationship we’ve developed with Indonesia’s government and dairy industry. 

“Through sustained engagement, we’ve laid a solid foundation for partnership,” she added. “This deal reinforces that progress and positions U.S. dairy to expand its capacity to serve as a reliable partner in supporting Indonesia’s dairy sector and nutrition goals.”

Mark Wilson, U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council chair, said, “This move is a welcomed development, and a win-win for American producers and Indonesian consumers alike.”