The history of the trade balance between Indonesia and the United States from year to year has always recorded a surplus for Indonesia. The value of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to the US is higher than the value of US exports to Indonesia.
The US is the second major destination for Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports, after China. The Central Bureau of Statistics report on Indonesia's export performance on August 1 showed: the value of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to the US during the January-June 2025 period amounted to USD $14,778.2 million. This figure increased by 20.7% compared to the same period last year. The share of exports to the US is around 11.52% of total non-oil and gas exports.
Meanwhile, the value of imports from the US to Indonesia in the first semester of 2025 was recorded at USD $4,866 million, up 6.8% compared to the same period last year. Thus, the Indonesia-US trade balance was a surplus of nearly USD $10,000 million.
This trade surplus condition is not only happening this year. Data shows that this trade surplus also occurred in previous years, even in the midst of trade wars and economic turmoil. The highest surplus ever occurred in 2022, which amounted to 18,866.3 million US dollars. In 2024, the surplus was recorded at US$17,016.6 million.
Indonesia's top three export commodities to the US are electrical machinery and equipment, footwear, and clothing and accessories.
With this trend, after the 19% reciprocal tariff imposed on Indonesia by US President Donald Trump, the government can still remain optimistic that the trade balance with the US will remain in surplus.
Market expansion and optimization of the supply chain of mainstay commodities are the keys to maintaining Indonesia's trade balance surplus amid the uncertainty of global geopolitical conditions.
